Mum-of-two Jenny Huggard-Sena was a popular teaching assistant and child health campaigner, who sadly died four years ago at the age of 53.
Now, St Albans City & District Council has named a road near where she lived in Sopwell as Jenny Lane in tribute to her, with the community "turning out in force" on Saturday (January 27) to welcome the naming.
Jenny, a long-time resident of the area, worked at Sopwell Children’s Centre before becoming a teaching assistant for 12 years at Mandeville Primary School.
She set up the Holyrood Crescent Residents Facebook page as a community forum and was a founder member of the Cottonmill Community Improvement page.
Jenny was also an advocate of the rights of children who were under the care of CAMHS, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, helping other parents to do the same.
The street in her name was created to serve a council development of seven new family and sustainable homes, near Leyland Avenue, on the site of the former Sopwell Youth Centre.
Seven three-bedroom properties are served by the road, which have been sold at market rate to help finance the building of the nearby Cottonmill Community and Cycling Centre (CCCC).
A naming event took place on Saturday, with St Albans mayor Cllr Anthony Rowlands, Cllr Robert Donald and Cllr Paul De Kort attending.
Jenny’s family, neighbours and friends were also in attendance.
A plaque commemorating Jenny was unveiled and many people wore something purple or red, Jenny's favourite colours.
Cllr Donald said: “Some years ago, during the building of this housing development, we consulted with the community about an appropriate name for the new road.
“A shortlist was compiled from the submissions made and the community voted on the final decision. It is testament to what a great character Jenny was that she came top.
“Jenny was very active within the Sopwell area, a much loved and valued community member who helped so many other people and children in the area, and this is a fitting tribute to her that will be cherished by her family and friends for years to come.
“The delivery of this much-needed, new family housing was crucial in providing funds towards the development costs of the outstanding new Cottonmill Community and Cycling Centre which replaced the old Marlborough Pavilion off Old Oak in 2022 and the former Sopwell Youth Club on this site.
“Without the £1 million-plus proceeds from these house sales, we simply would not have been able to finance a new community centre of such high quality for local groups to use or provide the amazing cycling hub facilities available at the CCCC for cyclists around the district to enjoy.”
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Cllr Anthony Rowlands added: "Jenny made an immense contribution to the strengthening of community bonds in Cottonmill. It is a tragedy that she died at such a young age.
“I hope this road naming and plaque will act as a tangible and meaningful tribute to Jenny which enables everyone, and especially her grieving family, to remember Jenny and to celebrate her life and memory."
Lastly, Jenny’s husband Jose, who was at the naming ceremony with their daughter Charlie, commented: “Jenny would have been so pleased to see the Cottonmill community hub up and running - somewhere for us all to congregate, have fun, relax, learn, party or just walk the dog; a space for us all to enjoy."
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