A MEMORIAL bench dedicated to community champion Sue Kirby has just been unveiled at the Larruperz Centre.

At last weekend’s unveiling, Caroline Bennett, chairman of the community centre’s trustees said that it was heart-warming to see so many people from the community honouring a friend and a much-missed member of the board of trustees.

Deputy mayor of Ross-on-Wye Cllr Julian Utting said: “We are here to reveal this memorial bench to Sue. I was lucky to have known her for some time and reading the many tributes I concur that she was as someone who had the very much heart and soul of a small-town community.”

He added: “Sue was friendly, loyal and kind-hearted and a wonderful community volunteer. She was a founding member and the longest serving committee member for the Larruperz Community Centre.

“She was also involved with the French twinning association, the skittles team and the sugar craft community.

“But what mattered most to Sue, was people. She delighted in bringing people together and most of all she enjoyed in getting them to have a chat.

“She had a wonderful gift of making people feel welcome and she genuinely cared for people and she was known for continuing conversations months after where they had left off.”

Sue’s family was at the heart of her life and had been with her husband Alwyn for over 50 years. Her numerous family members were assembled at the memorial bench unveiling, which was made of oak.

The guests heard that a bench invites you to stop, sit down, reflect, and have a chat and even tell a story about her.

Cllr Utting concluded: “She spent so much of her life bringing people together. I can’t think of a better way to preserve Sue’s memory.”