Girls Aloud's Sarah Harding's mum gives emotional speech at unveiling of plaque in star's honour

Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding has been honoured with a plaque in her memory in her hometown of Stockport, three years after she died at the age of 39 after being diagnosed with breast cancer

A plaque to commemorate the life of Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding was unveiled on Sunday.

The new addition in Stockport was revealed alongside a stunning pink mural that showed the late singer with a beaming smile. Sarah died in 2021 aged just 39 after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

The plaque was unveiled to mark the legacy of the singer which is helping to save young women's lives. Prior to her death, Sarah set up a charity to fund ways of detecting breast cancer early when it is more treatable. At the plaque unveiling, Sarah's mum Marie was on hand for the official unveiling.

The reveal took place hundreds joined a fundraising walk in memory of the pop star in her home town of Stockport.

In an emotional speech to the crowd that had gathered, she read a note saying after saying: "Sarah faced her devastating diagnosis with fierce courage and determination. Throughout her illness she spent a great deal of time in the Christie hospital being treated and cared for by the dedicated doctors and nurses there and I'm eternally grateful to all of them for their selfless kindness and support."

She continued how she knows Sarah would be "blown away" by the plaque and mural. She was supported by Sarah's friend, Fran, as she fought back the tears and added: "I'm so very proud of my beautiful daughter and everything she achieved in her tragically short life.

"She'd be thrilled to bits to see so many of you here today showing your love and support for her and for the Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal."

Ending her emotional speech, Marie shared her thanks for those in attendance and said she hoped thy enjoyed the rest of the celebrations the day had to bring. The crowd gave her a huge round of applause as she handed the microphone over and was consoled by Fran.

Fran added how everyone really missed Sarah, insisting the singer would have been blown away by the occasion and "the fact that her name is so strong day after day".

It was Marie who first broke the devastating news of Sarah's passing in 2021. Taking to the star's Instagram page, Marie's statement at the time read: "It’s with deep heartbreak that today I’m sharing the news that my beautiful daughter Sarah has sadly passed away. Many of you will know of Sarah’s battle with cancer and that she fought so strongly from her diagnosis until her last day.

""She slipped away peacefully this morning. I’d like to thank everyone for their kind support over the past year. It meant the world to Sarah and it gave her great strength and comfort to know she was loved. I know she won’t want to be remembered for her fight against this terrible disease – she was a bright shining star and I hope that’s how she can be remembered instead."

The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal has raised over £1million to date in its bid to help fund research into diagnosing breast cancer in younger women.

If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at Breast Cancer Support.

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