Our residents at Ganarew were delighted to talk about National Commonwealth Day, especially with recent showing of The Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth itself is made up of approximately 2.4 billion worldwide citizens, living in 53 countries and has a key role to play in the bright future of Britain.

To mark National Commonwealth Day, a live service from Westminster Abbey in London was held and ran for 90 minutes. There were readings from members of The Commonwealth and a performance from One Direction star, Liam Payne, who said it was an absolute honour to meet The Queen. Previously, Liam, 24, has met with The Head of The Commonwealth in 2017, for The Young Leaders Award.

The Commonwealth Games are of real interest to Evelyn as her dear husband, Charles Sonny Williams, was a very successful and competitive runner. He was born in 1930, in Trinidad, which is one of The Commonwealth countries. Charles enjoyed a long international career, and met Evelyn in London – they enjoyed a long happy marriage and travelled the world together!

In 1958, Charles took part in The Commonwealth Games, and in 1987, he obtained a world M55 record of 53.98, in Australia.