Guy Henderson on Friday

Loss of a true community man

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SOME people just have a gift for being able to make your day better simply by passing through it, and Barry Hayward was one of those people. It could have been just a word, a wave from the other side of the street, a handshake or an in-depth talk about the local football scene, but time spent with Barry was never time wasted.

Social media channels have been full of tributes to Barry since his death at the weekend, and every one of them was fully merited.

It dawned on me while scrolling through them that, almost everyone I know, knew Barry Hayward too.

Whether it was through local football, amateur dramatics, athletics, the quiz league, the regatta committee or through his work with the council, Tor2 and SWISCo, Barry's name ran right through the community like the word ‘Paignton’ through a stick of seaside rock. He'll have been involved with other local organisations that I have overlooked, and all of them will be feeling his loss keenly this week. So will those who just bumped into him and felt they were in the compa-