Chabad has launched an appeal to provide financial support for the wife and eight children of its Ilford rabbi who died following a heart attack on Sunday.

More than 1,000 people attended the funeral of Rabbi Moshe Muller, 44, who was described by the local centre's executive director, Rabbi Aryeh Sufrin, as "a kingpin of Chabad, looking after everything and reaching out to the wider community. It is a very difficult time for his family and it is our responsibility as a community now to look after them. He had eight children between the ages of four and 18."

An online appeal has raised £20,000 towards its £50,000 target in three days.

Rabbi Sufrin - who worked with Rabbi Muller for 20 years - remembered him as a gentle soul for whom "nothing was ever too much. We watched him grow into a husband and father and rabbi. He did great things for teenagers, running outreach projects and becoming a mentor for so many."