People gather to pay respects
DOMINIC MOFFITT AND IAN HUGHES
AGRIEVING community came together to pay their respects to the memory of Lindsay Birbeck.
Members of the mum-oftwo’s family and friends, as well as the wider Accrington community, took to Peel Park on Thursday, August 29, near The Coppice before proceeding to a memorial area and laying flowers.
Janice Ramsbottom was part of the search parties that set out to find the teaching assistant, from Huncoat.
She said: “This has touched every single one of us and it has brought the community from far and wide together.
“This night was to remind them of how proud they should be of themselves, they put their own lives on hold.
“You can see that in tragic circumstances people come together for the common good.”
The evening began with the organisers of the event, Katie Blezerd, Debbie Kimberley and Tracy White, speaking to the packed-out park. Debbie thanked the crowd and the community for all their help in trying to find Lindsay when she went missing.
She reminded everyone that they should feel ‘proud’ of how they had pulled together.
Debbie told the Observer: “Tonight showed that Accrington is a unified town, if anything happened here the community would be there.
“It’s reassuring to know that we are a unit.
“We won’t be put down, nothing will knock us back.”
She continued: “I would like to thank each and everyone of you who helped with the search for Lindsey even if you did a small thing, you helped you made a difference, you should all be proud.”
The crowd then observed a minutes silence for Lindsay before moving towards the area of the park which had been set aside as a memorial garden and laid down flowers.
While the crowd moved, a choir sang ‘Amazing Grace’.
The organisers had hoped to put on a memorial walk in memory of the 47-year-old but were forced to cancel.
The large volume of people that turned up to the park had caused the police to voice some safety concerns.
A minutes silence was also held at Accrington Stanley’s home game against MK Dons on Saturday. Pictures by SS Digital Images