LICHFIELD & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust attended a very special dedication of a memorial tree.
A 2.5m rowan stands tall on the route of the Lichfield Canal near the footpath linking Longbridge Road to Tamworth Road in Staffordshire and is dedicated to Margaret Cross by her family. She died of motor neurone disease in 2020.
About 30 friends and family from all over the UK and beyond attended and tributes were made to Margaret’s commitments to community projects around the world.
Her husband Major Rob Cross and daughters attended a Buckingham Palace Garden Party on May 18 for Rob to receive an MBE in recognition of work both he and Margaret did while living in Nepal and afterwards in this country supporting Gurkha charities, raising more than £100,000 for the Gurkha Welfare Trust with their tireless efforts over a number of years.
Rob, from Rugeley, was a major in the Queen’s Gurkha Royal Engineers and has been chairman of the North Midlands branch of the Gurkha Welfare Trust since 1998.
In addition to planting the tree, Rob and his family made a contribution to LHCRT funds.
Trust chairperson Christine Bull said: “LHCRT is always happy to receive native trees and flora and on this occasion it is also extremely grateful for the kind donation given by the Cross family.”
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