Friends and colleagues of antiques dealer Steve Philbey who runs Antiques on Sea in St Leonards-on-sea, have railed to help his family following his diagnosis of terminal cancer.
He is holding a sale of his entire stock of antiques and vintage items today and tomorrow and hopes the trade will attend to buy all his stock to raise money for his family.
Philbey, 41, announced on Instagram of his “devastating” news and said that he “regrettably does not have any life insurance”.
His friend Danny Wood set up a funding page and in a matter of days fellow antiques dealers and friends donated more than £60,000.
Antiques dealer Steve Philbey with his family.
In an updated post on Instagram Philbey added: “The gofundme page set up by my friend Danny was not something I was very keen on but I realise how many people wanted to help. It really does go to show that in this trade and in this world there really are lots of genuine people who care and this makes me smile so much.”
Wood wrote on the funding page: “His income is the sole income for his family which is his wife Hayley and their three children who are 12, 10 and six years of age. As you can imagine this is an extremely upsetting time for everyone who loves and knows Steve but his limited time left should be to spend quality time with his family and friends and not worry about money and the future of his family. This is where I am hoping anyone who reads this will make a donation.”
The shop is at 17-18 Tower Road, St Leonards-on-sea, near Hastings on the south coast and the stock sale will take place all weekend (October 9-10).
The fundraising page is https://www.gofundme.com/f/steve-philbey-terminal-cancer-fund
Follow updates on Instagram at @antiques_on_sea
