AN appeal has been launched to help the family of a 34-year-old Slovakian man who died shortly after moving to Keighley.

The committee in charge of the Danny Ryan Memorial Fund has stepped in to help the wife and children of Jozef Pompa, who died of bowel cancer on September 2.

The charity fund is named after a former Holy Family Catholic School deputy head teacher, and was first set up 29 years ago.

Fund committee chairman, Sean Gilligan, said Mr Pompa had moved to Keighley about a year ago had been a member of the St Anne's Church parish community. He had worked in a fish and chip shop, and he and his family lived in Highfield.

Mr Pompa and his wife, Marie Pompova, were originally from the Slovakian village of Toporec.

In June, the couple went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, in southern France, but Mr Pompa's condition deteriorated rapidly and he died earlier this month. His funeral service was held at St Anne's Catholic Church, in North Street, on September 12.

As well as his wife, he also leaves behind four children, aged between seven and 15, who attend schools in Keighley.

Speaking through a translator, Mrs Pompova said: "The children are changed now. The evenings are especially hard for them. My youngest child is saying 'it would be nice if dad was here to sit down with us'".

Interpreter and St Anne's Primary School worker, Dorota Plata, who has been helping the family, said: "They have always been very closely attached to St Anne's Church. Jozef forced himself to make the pilgrimage to Lourdes before he died. It mattered a lot to him.

"He was only diagnosed on August 20 last year. He was in Airedale Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary, but he was at home when he died.

"Marie has had to support her children in their new schools in England, and also support her ill husband. She was brilliant with him."

Mr Gilligan said: "It is a really sad situation. Like many people from different countries before them, this family had come here to have a better life.

"We have launched this special appeal under the aegis of the Danny Ryan Memorial Fund, and we've already raised £800 so far to help Jozef's family. We're looking for further donations."

Cash or cheques for this appeal can be posted to the parish priest at St Anne's Church: Canon Michael McCreadie, St Anne's Presbytery, North Street, Keighley BD21 3AD.