A MEMORIAL bench for a councillor who was “devoted to bettering lives” has been unveiled.

Friends and family of Councillor Raymonde Collins attended a ceremony at Culverstone Recreation Ground in Mountfields Close, Meopham on August 5 to unveil the bench donated by Gravesham Council.

The mayor of Gravesham also attended.

The councillor, who had represented Meopham South and Vigo wards since May 1991, died in December last year in EllenorLions hospice aged 66 after fighting pancreatic cancer for almost two years.

Gravesham Council leader Councillor Mike Snelling praised her fighting spirit following her death.

He said: “Her greatest achievement as a councillor was the recognition by all the residents she represented that she was devoted to bettering their lives rather than having any political agenda.”