EXCLUSIVE: Havering Deputy Lieutenant’s sadness at hearing memorial dedicated to a blind friend destroyed by vandals.

Mike Brace is one of Havering’s Deputy Lieutenants. In 2019, Mike placed a special memorial at the Sensory Garden for the Blind in Hornchurch, as a tribute to Betty, a lady who had been his reader for many years.

Mike is blind and Betty had been his reader for years travelling with him across different boroughs and finaling settling down in Havering to support Mike.

In her memory, a special memorial was installed at the Hornchurch gardens with a beautiful dog fountain.

Sadly this was recently destroyed by vandals and it has left Mike and the community extremely upset.

“I heard from a friend who recently visited the gardens that Betty’s memorial had been vandalised. It is very upsetting.

“Betty was an amazing lady who had been my reader for many years. She read all of the important emails I received and even moved different boroughs to support me.

“When she sadly passed away, she left money for charity and I made sure a special memorial was set up for her at the Sensory Gardens,” said Mike.

It was over the last weekend, that staff from Havering Volunteer Centre who run the garden, saw the destruction done to their garden.

“I got my first guide dog ten years ago and thought that it would be a nice tribute to have a dog fountain with her plaque in honour of all the work she did. I was left very upset when I heard that it had been smashed and that vandals had actually ripped her memorial out of the ground.”

Not only was Betty’s memorial destroyed, but plants and pots were also smashed and drug paraphernalia left behind.

The community are angry with this senseless act of vandalism that has ruined a beautiful garden dedicated to the blind and run by volunteers. It is open to all to enjoy and will continue to be so despite this awful vandalism.

Mike finished: “I will make sure it is replaced. It is very sad to see that this act of complete stupidity has destroyed a beautiful garden, and upset so many.”

Support Local Journalism
We at The Havering Daily appreciate your support of quality journalism. Your generous donation, no matter the size, allows us to continue bringing unbiased and informative news to the community. Your contribution helps us maintain our independence and allows us to continue providing high-quality journalism. Thank you for valuing the work we do and for supporting our mission

Thank you

Stay up to date with all of our latest updates and content by following us on our social media accounts!

We have created community pages where we will share our up-to-date stories happening in the area. Add the area closest to where you live.