Reading’s Permanent Memorial to Forbury Victims Unveiled Three Years On

READING’s permanent memorial to the innocent victims who lost their lives and those injured at Forbury Gardens on 20 June 2020 will be unveiled next week.

Three years to the day after the horrific events, the town’s community will again come together to remember James Furlong, Joe Ritchie-Bennett and David Wails at a series of memorial events on Tuesday June 20.

Residents are invited to attend the official Civic Memorial Service which begins at 7pm at Forbury Gardens. It will be led by the Mayor of Reading, Councillor Tony Page. A flower laying ceremony by families and friends will take place, followed by a minute’s silence. Residents will also be able to pay their respects at the permanent memorial stone which will be positioned at the Forbury Bandstand.

Members of the public are welcome to bring their own flowers to lay as part of the ceremony and are asked to be in place by 6.50pm. They will be able to access Forbury Gardens from 6.30pm and the gardens will close again at 8pm.

The ceremony will also be livestreamed on the Council’s Facebook page for those unable to attend.

The town’s permanent memorial stone has been designed in close collaboration with James, Joe and David’s families, and members of the community. It will be officially unveiled at a short private ceremony in the Forbury earlier in the afternoon, which will be followed by a private church service at nearby St Laurence’s Church.

At 9.45pm, three beams of light will be shone from the Forbury’s historic Maiwand Lion - which quickly became a symbol of the town’s solidarity in the difficult days and weeks which followed the attacks - into the night sky, in memory of James, Joe and David, and everybody affected.

Council Leader, Councillor Jason Brock, said:

 “I am sure that I’m far from alone in always thinking of James, Joe and David whenever I walk through our historic Forbury Gardens. I am pleased Reading’s community will now have somewhere definitive to pay their respects with the opening of Reading’s permanent memorial, which has been chosen in close discussion with families.

 “Tuesday’s Civic Memorial Ceremony offers Reading another chance to come together in solidarity, just as it did in the days and weeks which followed the attacks, and show our continued support for all the victims and their loved ones.

 “The events of 20 June 2020 continue to feel much more recent than three years ago, and my thoughts – and the thoughts of everybody in Reading – will always remain with the families and close friends who so needlessly lost loved ones that day, as well as all those injured or affected. It will be forever important that we, as a town, continue to demonstrate our unity in the face of an act of terror that sought to divide us.”