Family’s upset after memorial bench goes missing from Eastbourne cemetery

Stewart Robbins - father to Sarah, Lee and Scott, and husband to Christine - died in 1996 and later had a memorial bench put in place at Ocklynge Cemetery, in Willingdon Road.

Daughter Sarah posted her upset on Facebook on May 27, when she found out the bench had gone, calling on the community to help her find the memorial and put it back.

Her Facebook post received 488 shares and had hundreds of comments from concerned members of the public.

The bench was later found ‘dumped in some bushes’ and Sarah is going down today (Thursday, June 4) to make sure it has been put back.

Sarah, 47, said, “It’s been found. It’s nice we’ve got it back. My mum was upset, and so were we. We got the bench to remember dad, it would not have been the same if we got a different one. Everybody is relieved.

“Someone messaged me to say it had been dumped in some bushes. Whoever pinched it has a guilty conscience which has got the better of them.”

The mother-of-two praised the community spirit of the town for being concerned and helping her find the bench.

She said, “It’s really good, social media, it has that power sometimes. People were offering to start GoFundMe pages and to help. Some people said ‘I used to sit on that bench’. It’s community spirit.”

Dad Stewart was born in Eastbourne and lived in Hampden Park. He unfortunately died from a rare cancer at the age of 46 in 1996. Sarah said her dad would ‘do anything for anyone’.

Sarah, Christine, Scott and Lee wanted to say a collective family thank you to those who were concerned and helped get the bench back.

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