Fundraising campaign for children of parents who both died from cancer in same week

The children of Mike and Julie Bennet have shared a photo of the moment their parents said goodbye Credit: Bennet family photo

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A fundraising campaign has raised more than £100,000 to support three children from Wirral who've been orphaned after losing both of their parents to cancer within a week.

Friends of Mike and Julie Bennet set up the page after promising to take care of the couple's three children.

They're hoping to raise enough money for the couple’s three children, Oliver, 13; Hannah, 18, and Luke, 21 so they can stay in the family home.

Family friend Heather Heaton Gallagher described Mike and Julie as "the most supportive parents".

Mike Bennet had been fighting cancer since 2013, having been diagnosed with a brain tumour, and had been nursed at home by Julie and the children. The 57-year-old was a self-employed cabinet maker who had served his apprenticeship with Baldock’s Furniture Makers in Liverpool.

Mum Julie, aged 50, who was a primary school teacher at Somerville School in Wallasey, was diagnosed with liver and kidney cancer in May 2016.

In the heartbreaking image shared by the children, Julie clings to her dying husband Mike’s hand, as she says goodbye to him.

Mike died on Monday, February 6, with Julie and the children around. Last night Julie Bennet passed away at the same hospice.

To donate to the fundraising campaign for the Bennet family - follow this link for their Just Giving page.