Yorkshire family blasts The Range after mum's tragic death leaves boys, 10 and six, without vital pay out

A hardworking Yorkshire mum died, after ‘devoting her life’ to her job at The Range – but her family are seething with rage with the £2 billion retailer for not offering a vital payout to help her partner and two young boys.

Barnsley woman Rebecca ‘Becky’ Evans, 35, died earlier this month on Sunday May 5, a month after initially experiencing ‘stomach pains’. Her family didn’t wish to disclose her illness, publicly, but were left ‘shocked’ by Becky’s rapid decline.

Becky, who was a deputy-manager at The Range in The Peel Centre for about 15 years, has left behind two children. Two boys, Evan 10, and Freddie, six, who she had with her partner Scott, a self-employed window cleaner.

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Her family has said The Range is not offering a 'death in service' benefit. This is a common service amongst companies where a tax free lump sum is paid to a designated family member after you die while employed, in addition to your pension. It's often two to four times your annual salary.

Distraught dad and grandad Adrian Evans, 63, is ‘boiling inside’ over The Range’s lack of a death in service benefit. In lieu of any financial support from the home, garden, and leisure retailer, the family has launched a fundraiser in a bid to get some money together for her young family.

The Range is owned by husband and wife team Chris and Sarah Dawson, valued at £2.5 billion in The Sunday Times Rich List, earlier this month. The company has said it was ‘saddened’ by Becky’s passing and added it was working with the store manager to ‘provide all the support we can’.

'I’m boiling inside'

Adrian frets over The Range’s many employees, who Becky ‘loved’ working with so dearly, worrying for their families who also won’t receive support if they happen to pass away. He has implored everyone to check their work contracts to see if they have a death in service benefit.

Adrian said: “I’m so angry. They’ve got all the money and they can’t pay a little extra for ‘death in service’. My wife worked for Tesco, and Tesco have got it."

Becky's mum Maureen died of cancer in December, so it’s been a particularly tough year for Adrian and the rest of his family.

Adrian continued: “I’m angry, I just cannot believe this happens in this day and age. I’m boiling inside, thinking about all the people working there. God, almighty!

“Why haven’t they got this policy? If they had this policy of death in service, Scott would have had a bit of money. There’s nothing from them. I’m just angry and devastated they haven’t got anything for them, and for all the other people that work there.”

Adrian spoke about how tirelessly Becky worked at the Peel Centre store. Many of her colleagues have helped support the Go Fund Me campaign, launched by Becky’s aunt Pat Richardson and sister-in-law Carey Evans.

The heartbroken dad said: “Becky worked really hard for them for about 15 years. She would go there at the drop of a hat, even on a night when an alarm went off, she’d get the call, get up and go there.

“If there were any nights needed doing, she’d be the one to do them. She devoted her life to them. She loved working there. She loved the people she worked with.”

Another family member, who didn’t wish to be named for professional reasons, said: “We’re really disappointed, Becky would drop anything that she was doing to help them out. She had keys to sort the alarm out at the middle of the night. She’d help out at different stores.

“We were hoping that they’d provide support for her family since she’d done so much for them. It’s quite disappointing, really. For billion-pound company, you’d have though they’d look after their employees. Her colleagues are getting behind this fundraiser.”

A spokesperson from The Range said: “We’re saddened to hear the news of Becky’s passing and would like to extend our deepest sympathies to her family. She was a much-loved deputy manager in our Barnsley store and a future manager in the making.

“Becky will be missed by all her colleagues and friends and we’re working with the store manager to provide all the support we can for them at this sad time.”

If you would like to help Becky's fundraiser, you can donate, here.

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