A GRIEVING community has come together to pay for the headstone of a popular mum who died suddenly.

Voluntary youth worker Maureen Paton was found dead at home in Lomax Street, Darwen, by her partner Bob Crawford.

She had been treated in hospital a few weeks earlier for minor health problems, but her death remains a mystery.

Her family are hoping for answers from an inquest on March 1.

The sudden death in December has left her two daughters, Lynnette McGuire, 25, And Dannielle McGuire, 19, devastated and unable to pay for the cost of a headstone for 41-year-old Maureen.

So Maureen’s best friend and ‘soulmate’ Dot Main, 43, of Holden Fold, organised a fundraising event at the Reachout Centre, Ash Grove, Darwen, at the weekend, which met the £1,000 target.

Dot said: “Maureen was the kind of person who would leave herself with nothing just to help someone in need and I felt that she deserved something back in return.

“We were very close.

“Her death was so unexpected. She was so well known and liked having grown up in the area.

“It has been such a shock for everyone and her two daughters and two little grandchildren, KT-Mae, one, and George, 18 months, have been left devastated. They’ll never forget her.

“The girls could not possibly afford the headstone so I would like to thank the staff at the centre for helping us and for everyone who turned up to donate.

“It was a bit of a celebration of her life too as people were swapping stories and pulling together.”

Dot said Maureen had a ‘passion’ for youth work at the Reachout Centre to give children a chance to improve their lives.

She was married to soldier David McGuire and left the area for several years. But she returned to Darwen and had been with her partner Bob for 17 years.

The funeral was at St James’s Church, Darwen, and burial at Darwen Cemetery, where the headstone will now be placed.