Family raises funds for Newport bench in memory of journalist Dawn Foster

The mother of Dawn Foster has thanked people for supporting an appeal to place a memorial bench in the Newport park where her daughter used to play.

Dawn Foster was a successful author and journalist who died last week at the age of 34. She grew up in Newport before going on to study English literature at Warwick University.

Her mother Trudi launched a GoFundMe appeal to raise funds for a park bench in Newport to remember her daughter.

She said: “My name is Trudi, Dawn Foster’s mother, and we as a family are devastated at her untimely passing at the young age of 34 years.

“Dawn was a successful and well-known journalist based in London but we would like to place a memorial bench in the Patch play park that Dawn played in as a child here in Newport, South Wales.”

Charity

The goal to raise £400 was achieved in a matter of hours and the fund currently stands at over £4,000.

Any funds raised above the target are being donated to two of Dawn’s favourite charities – The Freedom Project and Dogs Trust.

Dawn Foster was a former staff writer for Jacobin magazine and a regular contributor to the Guardian, The Independent, London Review of Books and Times Literary Supplement.

Tributes

Among the many tributes she received was a message from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who said: “I’m so sad to learn that Dawn Foster has died so young. She was a wonderful journalist & a beautiful writer who used her talent to expose injustice.

“Through her journalism, she gave voice to those who are rarely heard. My thoughts are with all those who love her. Such a sad loss.”

South Wales East MS Delyth Jewell said: “Dawn Foster was a fierce advocate for justice, unshakingly generous in how she saw the world, and a writer who gave voice to those who needed it most. What a loss she will be.”