A new memorial seat has been installed in Saltash in memory of the 1.5 million European children that were killed or died during the Holocaust.

Averil Pinckney, who heads the Eva’s Little Stars charity, organised the child’s seat to be put in place in the Memory Garden at St Stephen’s Church, Saltash.

The seat was unveiled in the gardens by former mayor Sue Hooper.

Prior to the unveiling, Sue read Anne Frank’s last letter to her imaginary friend ‘Kitty’, of August 1, 1944, which featured in The Diary of Anne Frank.

The youngster kept the diary when she and seven others were in hiding from the Gestapo in Amsterdam.

Following their arrest, Anne died in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. Of the others, some survived and others died in various concentration camps.

There were many people present for the unveiling, including representatives of the Jewish community.

Ria Cohen read the Sonnet for Anne Frank, written by Michael Rosen, and Liz Burg sang a Holocaust prayer in Hebrew.

Others at the ceremony included Bill and Jean Dent, Gloria Challen, Julie Phelan, Sue and Geoff Hughes, and the Rev Richard Magrath who read a psalm and blessed the memorial seat.

After the ceremony, Averil presented Sue Hooper and Ria with Hebrew embroideries as keepsakes of the occasion.

The memorial seat, which displays the Star of David, was made possible by Sue and Geoff Hughes, who donated the seat to the memory garden on behalf of their friend Averil.

Elsewhere in the Saltash area, two memorial seats have been unveiled at Forder Green to commemorate two popular local residents.

The first seat was in memory of Gerald Hamling, whose family had lived in Forder for generations. This seat was at the request of Gerald’s daughter Susan Sharp.

Gerald’s grandmother Henrietta Allen was the village ‘midwife’ and not only delivered Gerald but other babies too.

Gerald’s father, William, worked for Farmer Maddiver, near Forder, and Farmer Hosking, of Shillingham Farm.

The other memorial seat unveiled by Sue Hooper, the patron of the Forder Community Conservation Association (FCCA), was the Mona Tomaszewska-Honywill Memorial Seat.

Mona was a great supporter of the Forder community over many decades.

At the unveilings, Sue recalled her past and close association with Farmer Maddiver, Farmer Hosking and Mona Tomaszewska-Honywill.

She also thanked Jackie Keith who had worked closely with the families and the Duchy of Cornwall for the installation of the seats. In addition, Sue thanked Steve Carew who had installed the pair of seats.