TRIBUTES have been paid to a brave woman who had been battling cancer.

Lorna Crofter, from Worcester, who touched the lives of many in the community, has died after fighting bowel cancer.

Lorna, 56, was a campaigner and advocate for vulnerable people, using her own experience to push for better funded services in the city.

Former mayor of Worcester Jabba Riaz said he is “truly gutted” about the passing of Lorna.

The city councillor added: “I got to know Lorna during my mayoral year. She has done some really good work in the community. She focused on mental health issues and domestic abuse – all these things she had been through personally.

“She really took on my message ‘love not hate’. She helped me spread that message and reach out to more people.

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"She had some personal problems herself, but she was so busy helping others she couldn’t seek help for herself.

“Her passion, enthusiasm and her love for helping others was her drive for carrying on through her pain. She affected a lot of people.”

City councillor Joy Squires, chair of environment committee, said: “I knew Lorna best from her frequent appearances at Committee meetings in the Guildhall. She was a campaigner and advocate for vulnerable people, using her own experience with different agencies to press for better funded services and a compassionate approach.

“After one meeting I walked with her through the city centre. She stopped to talk to every homeless person we saw, checking that they had enough food to get them through the night. There will be many in Worcester greatly saddened by her passing.”

City councillor Lynn Denham said: “Lorna was a familiar figure to many in Worcester. She loved our community cafes, the parks and the shared public spaces.

“I am not quite sure when I first met her, but I am pretty certain it was on a visit to the Asha Centre - also gone, but not forgotten - which was a much-loved safe place for women.

“I had many fascinating conversations with Lorna over the years, about her past, her travails, her achievements and her vision for 'knitting the community back together'.

“She was a troubled soul, who struggled with mental illness and then with bowel cancer. Many people worried about her, but she kept going, sometimes against all odds.

"Rest in Peace.”