THE children of an Uppermill stalwart have paid tribute to her.

Joyce Evelyn Sutherland passed away on February 17 age 78.

Joyce was well known in the area and her children said that they have been touched by the wonderful comments and kind words that people have left following her death.

She was a 'wonderful mum' to Jaqueline, Karen, Patricia, the late Alec, James, John, Alec and Simon.

Joyce was also known for spreading her kindness in Oldham.

Alec said: "Mum was a wonderful person, she was kind,popular and well known. She would take the bus to places and in particular she was well-known around Uppermill Park.

"She would talk to people on the benches and spread her love, chatting to adults and children about life, she was a remarkable woman.

"I would like to thank all the people who stopped to chat with her and the local business owners that looked out for her and the bus drivers that served her."

Joyce married the late Alec when she was 18, the pair lived in Cheetham Hill but moved to Uppermill years later, towards the end of her life, Joyce lived in Springhead.

She loved singing and would regularly perform acoustic sessions at the Acoustic Cafe arranged by the charity, Forever Manchester.

Her daughter Jaqueline also paid tribute.

She said: "Mum was lovely. We all have lots of fond memories of her. She lived for her children.

"She was always home cooking, home baking and took good care of us. She would shop at car boots and look out for bargains and clothes for us, but every Christmas all eight of us would have a massive pile of presents each and we were all treated the same.

"She was a carer so must have been saving up all year for us to make sure we had a happy Christmas.

"Covid was the worst thing to happen to us and her as it took away the precious time that we all could have had. That is the sad thing too."

Joyce's funeral will take place next Friday and will pass through Uppermill around 10.20am.