At the age of 22 nobody would expect to suddenly become the guardian of their bereft siblings.

But for Sam Boyall of St Nicholas, Stevenage this became a tragic reality after his mum passed away at just 47.

Now a fundraising campaign has been set up to help the children of late mum Corina Perry who are now wondering how to face the future without her.

As well as Sam, 22, the mum-of-five has left behind Chrys, 28, Jack, 25, Max, 14 and Isabelle 11.

The GoFundMe campaign is aiming to raise £6,000 to help with funeral costs, with any additional funds used to support the younger children.

Corina, who loved painting, art and music as well as being with her family, caught Covid just a week before Christmas and went into hospital on Boxing Day.

Although her health initially appeared to improve, she suddenly took a turn for the worst on January 10 and passed away that night.

Sam has worked in logistics for six years. He started sweeping the floors and sticking labels on boxes and has worked his way up to analyst. His employer has helped him through the crisis by changing his hours so he can take the children to school.

He said: "An angel was taken from us at such a young age. The most beautiful, caring and kind-hearted woman. She had a heart of gold and a mind of colours. She was a great mum, sister and grandma to many. Her smile and kind words kept us all going and it is going to be hard to live without her. Mum was a blessing and she held all of us close.

"She would want all of us to stand together and stay strong for her. She will be missed by many."

Sam now faces becoming a de facto father for Max and Isabelle: "It will be hard to raise my younger siblings but it is an unexpected challenge that I want to face for mum and my brother and sister. Although finances are tight, if we can just get together enough for a simple funeral for Mum, we can start to slowly tackle the day-to-day.

"The school attended by the younger children is being very supportive and helping us navigate a way through."

To help out this young family please go to https://gofund.me/01fc2707