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Weston Rhyn Parish Council mourns the loss of Councillor Angela Bright who has recently passed away after a short illness. We have lost a valued and long serving champion for our village.
Angela became a parish councillor in 2008 and has served tirelessly since then. Her sense of fairness made her a feisty campaigner for those who don’t get as much representation as everyone else, such as young, disabled and elderly people. She always had time to talk to people and provided a friendly and supportive ear. She would highlight concerns and problems met by our residents and doggedly keep lobbying on their behalf until she was successful in implementing necessary changes. Some of her work saw towpath improvements, hedge and verge cutting, and street lighting.
Angela was also a member of several committees around the area, including Weston Rhyn Institute and Oswestry Disabled Access Group, Good Companions and Knit and Natter. She ran the Chirk Bank Community Group and was chair of the Trustees who manage the Playing Field in Weston Rhyn. She also arranged events in Chirk Bank, such as the scarecrow competition, and the recent Christmas Craft Fair and Christmas Lights competition. Through her position as Weston Rhyn Parish Council representative on the (now defunct) Shropshire Council Local Joint committee for Gobowen and Selattyn, St Martins and Weston Rhyn Angela was involved from the beginning with the Three Parishes Big Local project which has seen over £1 million of Lottery funding invested in the area over the last 9 years.
Angela was also a busy fundraiser for projects in the village, not only running coffee mornings, Victorian Tea parties and raffles but also successfully applying for larger grants from the Lottery and other funding organisations. She developed an allotment area alongside the canal in Chirk Bank, and was in the process of getting grants to improve play equipment on Weston Rhyn Playing Fields when she passed away.
We will all miss the energy and commitment she gave to the parish, and will remember her fondly when we recall the fun we had on her Good Companions coach trips to the seaside, or when we are digging on the allotment. She was a good and steadfast friend.
Written by Cllr Maggie Rowlands on behalf of the Parish Council.
