Thousands raised to support family of five-year-old who died in house fire

Thousands of pounds have been raised to support the family of a five-year-old girl who died in a house fire at the weekend.

Alysia Salisbury died at the scene of the blaze in Pontyglasier near Crymych, Pembrokeshire, with her family paying tribute to “a beautiful daughter and sister” after the fire on Saturday night.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds to help the family, with donations going towards funeral costs and to help find a new home for Alysia’s family.

People have already donated upwards of £10,000, with the donations page saying the family had lost “their home and all of their possessions in the tragic fire”.

Beccy Eynon, a family friend who started the fundraiser, told Sky News the community’s response had been “completely overwhelming”.

“With breaking the target donation five times within less than 48 hours, the outpouring of love and support for the family at this time reflects the true community spirit we have in West Wales,” she said.

“The money raised will help in such great magnitude to the family at this tragic time.

“Not only have they lost their home and all of their possessions, but with losing a child their lives will never be whole again.

“We will keep raising money for them for as long as is needed to help them find another place to call home.”

‘So generous’

Local councillors Shon Rees and John Davies launched an appeal for clothes and toiletries but had to close the collections after a day as people had been “so generous”.

“We know we live in an area which comes together when they need to and we’ve seen that in the last couple of days,” Cllr Rees told Sky News.

“We’ve had to close the appeal within 24 hours of opening it because so much stuff was coming in.

“It’s hard to comprehend what [the family are] dealing with at the moment – from the tragedy of the fire to losing a member of the family.

“The hope is that this gives some reassurance to them that there’s a community behind them in the north of the county which offers a helping hand.”

Cllr Davies told Sky News that the response to the appeal “reaffirms” faith in humanity.

“They are communities with big hearts and big concern and it reaffirms people’s faith in humanity,” he said.

“People have travelled here from far away to donate because they want to support the family in their hour in need.

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“A nearby village, Newchapel, has raised around £800 from no more than about 20 to 25 houses.”

Dyfed-Powys Police said Alysia’s family continue to be supported by specialist officers.

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