Thousands raised in memory of Sheffield man after tragic death at university

Miles Radley, aged 22, from Millhouses, was studying Mechanical Engineering at Loughborough University, Leicestershire, when he took his own life on October 5.

A GoFundMe page was created last month by Miles’ family with a fundraising target of £2,000, yet this has been more than doubled, with £5,200 raised so far.

Miles’ sister, Mirelle, 26, said: “It’s amazing. It has acquired a lot more than we thought it would.

“He was a really selfless person; I think he touched a lot of lives, so there were a lot of people who felt a connection and wanted to donate.”

The family have decided to split the donations between funding for a memorial bench for Miles in Ecclesall Woods, and mental health charities.

Some money will also be used to fund ‘Random acts of kindness from Miles’ - an idea Mirelle came up with.

Mirelle added: “Ecclesall Woods is where we spent a lot of time growing up; hopefully the bench will be used by people who need a minute to sit and reflect.”

“Miles was always the first person to help people and give advice if someone was struggling so we wanted to do something impactful to help others in his memory.”

The acts of kindness the fundraising appeal will support will be ‘to help others in need as Miles so often did’, such as paying for 1:1 tutoring sessions and donating food to local homeless shelters.

Miles’ friends are planning a charity football event, with the proceeds being added to the online fundraiser.

Atacan Aydinli, 22, organiser of the event, said: “The goal of the day is to do what Miles did best, bring people together in a sociable environment.

“He was one of my best friends and it wouldn’t have been right to not try to raise money to support other people who were in his position or struggling in their own right.”

A spokesperson for the University of Loughborough said: “The loss of Miles was felt across the university community.”

Visit GoFundMe to donate.