THE brother of a well-known Chirk man who died in February said donations and messages have been overwhelming.

More than £2,000 has been raised in memory of Phil Kynaston – a popular figure in the community who died after contracting Covid-19.

Phil was well-known in the community of Chirk and worked at the local Kronospan factory. He also worked as a groundsman for Chirk AAA FC.

His brother, Neil, helped to set up a fundraiser to raise money for the intensive care unit (ICU) at Wrexham Maelor Hospital where Phil was treated.

Since then, and with donations on the back of Phil’s funeral, a total of £2,020 has been raised for the hospital.

Neil said the donations and kind messages have shown how loved his brother was.

He said: “A lot more was raised than we thought would be.

“It was all donated by Phil’s family, friends, the football club and people he worked with.

“It shows how loved he was. On top of the money there were hundreds of messages we received in his memory.

“On the day of his funeral, there was only 20 allowed to attend. But there was about 100 people stood along the route we had planned past Kronospan where he worked and past the football club as well.

“So for us to see that on the day was really nice.

“We just want to thank everyone for the donations and the kind messages as well.”