Commemorating a dedicated local Councillor
On Tuesday 31st July a small group of Cuddington residents gathered at the lawn behind the GP surgery in Shadbolt Park to commemorate the tragic death of Cllr Rob Foote on July 31st 2021. Rob was a volunteer race Marshall based at Goodwood and he had volunteered to be a trackside race Marshall at Brands Hatch on that Saturday in 2021. Two cars collided on a bend and one was sent hurtling into Rob’s trackside hut. He was killed instantly. He had recently suffered the loss of his wife Rosemarie, after a long fight against cancer and he was slowly getting his life back together helping in the sport that he loved.
Rob was a ward councillor in Cuddington for 18 years and he and his wife were Mayor and Mayoress in 2014-15. The small ceremony was attended by Deputy Mayor Cllr Steven Bridger and his wife Carol together with Cuddington ward councillors Kim Spickett and Phil Neale, RA Chair Wendy Leveridge, RA treasurer David Eames and many local residents.
The bench was donated by Rob’s family in Bristol.
Image from left to right – Brian Angus, former mayor and close friend of Rob & Rosie, Deputy Mayor Cllr Steven Bridger and Deputy Mayoress Carol Bridger, Cllr Phil Neale, David Eames-treasurer of Cuddington RA, Wendy Leveridge-chair of Cuddington RA, Cllr Kim Spickett, stand up image of Rosemarie Foote, Margaret Angus and stand up image of Rob Foote.
Cllr Phil Neale welcomed the residents, friends and colleagues of Rob And Rosemarie Foote saying “ We thank the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress for representing the Borough at this event and to you all for attending this simple ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the tragic accident on Saturday 31st July 2021 when Rob was killed at Brands Hatch racing circuit whilst volunteering as a safety marshall at the trackside. The whole of the sport, that weekend, recognised the dedication and sacrifice that Rob had made for their sport and spontaneous donations totalled more than £60,000 which went to providing a safety minibus stationed at the Goodwood racing circuit, where Rob was a member of the Safety Marshalls’ Club.”
The memorial bench installed in Shadbolt Park by Epsom & Ewell BC was donated by the Rob’s sister, Sheree Foote, which along with a memorial oak tree planted last year will stand as a lasting symbol of the dedication and work that both Rob and Rosemarie gave to the borough in the eighteen years that he was a councillor and mayor and mayoress in 2014-15.