A BOLTON actor’s family have decided to share his memorial fund among the places that “helped him achieve his dreams”.

Daniel Bolton was 28 when he died on September 28 last year, after a short battle with a rare neurological illness.

A fund set up in his memory received over £7,000 in donations and it will now be used to set up annual awards in his name at the places that helped him reach the West End.

Daniel’s family will be giving money to Daniel’s old school - Rivington and Blackrod High - as well as his old theatre group, St Phillips Junior Workshop, and his first dance school, Frances Bleasdale School of Dancing.

Money will also be given to Pendleton College in Salford and Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, both of which Daniel attended.

Lesley Bolton, Daniel’s mother, would like the institutions to fund an award for young people who show the same determination, perseverance and character that Daniel showed throughout his life.

Lesley said: “Daniel made such an impression everywhere that he went, and he managed to achieve his dreams, so we wanted to share the funds amongst those places.”

She added: “It’s a way of giving recognition to others that are trying to follow their dreams, in the same way that he did.

“The awards will be for young people who don’t give up at the first obstacle, because Daniel had obstacles, but he didn’t let them stop him"

The fund was initially set up by one of Daniel’s friends, Tom Scanlon, to help with his recovery but was converted to a memorial fund following Daniel’s death.

Lesley said that many people were asking if the family would like donations to a charity following Daniel’s death.

However, as Daniel did not have a well-known illness, his parents, Lesley and David, said that people could donate to the memorial fund if they wanted to.

Daniel had acted on the West End in Bend it like Beckham in 2015 and had recently toured in Crazy for You with Caroline Flack, Tom Chambers and Claire Sweeney.

However, Daniel’s first ever experience of musical theatre had been in a production of Oliver! with Horwich Operatic and Dramatic society in 2000.

Daniel then went on to go and perform in a number of shows with St Phillip’s Junior Workshop- including Oliver! again- where he played the leading role.

Daniel joined Frances Bleasdale School of Dancing at the age of 13.

He continued to attend dance lessons in Bolton at the same time as attending Pendleton sixth form, before going to drama school at Laine Theatre Arts.

He then secured his first professional job in Craig Revell Horwood’s production of Fiddler on the Roof in 2013.