Elsie Dot Stancombe was laid to rest in Birkdale today
Royal Mail paid a poignant tribute to Elsie Dot Stancombe on her "special day". The seven-year-old who was among three little girls killed in the Southport knife attack was remembered with balloons, bubbles and one of her favourite Taylor Swift songs at her funeral on Friday, August 23.
Ahead of the service, mourners – including the family dog Bobby – gathered outside St John’s Church in Birkdale to see the horse-drawn carriage, which travelled from the family home through streets decorated with pink ribbons. Emergency service workers were among those attending, along with Ibrahim Hussein, imam of Southport mosque, which was damaged when violence broke out the day after Elsie’s death.
The service, referred to as Elsie’s Special Day, was the final funeral to be held for the victims of the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Hart Street on July 29, in which Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Bebe King, six, also died.
Elsie’s coffin, topped with a blue cuddly toy, was carried up a pink carpet as members of her cheerleading squad, Vortex Cheer, formed a guard of honour, before going into the building through a balloon arch as bubbles were blown into the air. The church was full to capacity with people wearing bright colours and florals, after Elsie’s family asked those attending not to wear black, and was decorated with pastel-coloured flowers and pink ribbons.
At the end of the service, the congregation was asked to remain in their seats as one of Elsie’s favourite songs, Taylor Swift’s Love Story, was performed while the coffin and close family left the church. As the cortege passed floral tributes in Southport town centre after the service, hundreds gathered and applauded.
In tribute, nine Royal Mail vans joined the procession through Southport behind the hearse carrying Elsie's coffin, adorned with pink ribbons. Elsie's dad David Stancombe works as a postman.
Hundreds gathered in late summer sunshine to pay their respects outside The Atkinson art gallery on Lord Street in the centre of Southport, where a vigil was held the day after the attack. The square outside the gallery became a shrine of thousands of flowers left by well-wishers – festooned with pink balloons, candles, teddy bears and photos of the girls who lost their lives.
Both sides of Lord Street were lined with people of all ages, and some children blowing bubbles, hugged by their parents and grandparents, stood in silence awaiting the funeral cortege. As the cortege approached, the silence was broken by applause as the hearse slowly passed, followed by funeral cars carrying Elsie’s heartbroken family.
In a statement released earlier in the day, Elsie’s family said: “Elsie embraced life and it is with positivity, hope and love that we celebrate her life today on ‘Elsie’s Special Day’. Elsie spent every day just simply enjoying life with determination, persistence, love and kindness. Elsie was an amazing little girl. She had the ability to light up any room that she entered, she was truly unforgettable.”