Nik was a familiar face at The Elizabethan pub, which was run by his mother for many years.
She said she could “never explain how big the support and love was” from the local community when he died.
The current landlady, Kely Lake and her twin daughters Peyton and Tamsin Gray have been behind much of the fundraising.
They have put on jumble sales, curry nights, raffles, busking and Nik’s son Leon even took part in a 10-mile walk.
“It’s been a massive group effort from everyone in the pub, we couldn’t have done it without everybody here” said the twins.
Diabetes UK gave them a choice of projects the £18,000 could be spent on.
Lake said the one that “stood out” was improving ambulance care for DKA.
After donating the money she received an email which said they were shutting down the project because the goal, to have ketone testing strips on ambulances, had been achieved.
“When they sent that letter, I think we were all just crying. What Nik went through doesn’t necessarily have to happen again.”
