Barnsley businesses pull together to raise money for family killed in crash near Wakefield

A Barnsley community are coming together to support the loved ones of the family of four killed in a crash near Wakefield on Sunday afternoon.

Shane Roller and Shannen Morgan died alongside two of their daughters, 9-year-old Rubie and 4-year-old Lillie.

They were in a Ford Focus which was in collision with a motorbike on the A61 just before 4pm. They leave behind a third daughter who is 11 and wasn’t involved in the crash.

More than a quarter of a million pounds has been donated via a GoFundMe page and now local businesses in Athersley North are also pulling together to help raise money.

Little donation buckets showing a picture of the family are on the counters of several businesses, with the money raised going towards funeral costs and supporting the 11-year-old girl who has lost her family.

'I went to sleep thinking about it last night and woke up thinking about it'

Bobby Sangha runs the Nisa convenience store and told us how Shane had popped in around half an hour before the crash happened:

“He came in here and I had a laugh and a joke with him, his kids were in the car.

“His last words he said to us were ‘I’m going to Wakefield, I need some change’ so we gave him some change… then we heard the news and it was devastating.

“You can’t comprehend it. Everyone’s coming in now just crying.

“His wife came in here all the time shopping. They were a proper family, a nice family, would do everything for their kids. Always have a smile on their face no matter how bad things were… always happy.

“He couldn’t do enough for you, lovely guy,

“I went to sleep thinking about it last night and woke up thinking about it. It’s all those ‘ifs’… if I’d talked to him another 30 seconds more would he have missed it?

“The feeling here is very sombre, everyone’s downbeat. It will affect a lot of people. This will stay with everyone for the rest of their lives. It makes you reflect on life, you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow.”

'It hits home that time is so precious'

Robert Taylor owns Muscle Unit Gym and also has a fund-raising bucket on the counter:

“We’re all a big community. Being a father of three children myself it kind of hits home. It’s just like something that you would never ever see, it’s a tragic accident. It hits home that time is so precious.

“For the girl to be left behind, to get that news… how does that impact her future?

“Everybody’s pulling together like they should be, I’m so glad that people are getting involved. It’s a tragedy but hopefully we can get some money together and help that girl out for the rest of her life.”

Athersley North Primary School have also paid tribute to Rubie and Lillie, saying they were both a ‘pleasure to teach’.

Meanwhile West Yorkshire Police have this afternoon named the man and woman on the motorbike who also died in the tragedy.