MOURNERS sobbed as they listened to a heart-wrenching poem written by the two young sons of Andraya Lyons, who tragically died last month, at her memorial yesterday, describing how much they miss her.

The celebration of her life, which was held at St John the Baptist and St Helen in Wroughton, saw over 200 friends, family members and colleagues fill the church to pay their respects to the 39-year-old who died following a house fire.

In the service, conducted by Canon Michael Johnson and the Rev Geoffrey Gleed, a poem written by Andraya’s sons Noah and Reggie and brother Simon brought tears to the eyes of mourners.

It read: “Mummy, you are amazing. Mummy, you are great. Mummy, you are our friend and best mate. We are still the three amigos without a doubt.

"We’ll miss your smile, laughter and even shout. We had fun all the time and always messed around. We love you to bits although you are not around.

“We will never forget you every day we grow even though you are now so far away. We see you in the sky as the brightest twinkling star.

"So go where the winds take you and until the day we meet again, sleep well beautiful Mummy, we love you.”

The boys, who attended the service, then handpicked a song they used to sing in the car with their mum from Mumford and Sons, ‘I Will Wait’.

A private funeral was held for the mum last Friday at Swindon Crematorium and Andraya would have celebrated her 40th birthday on Tuesday.

Mr Gleed, who knew Andraya, said: “Every person’s life cannot be measured by the length of days they live but by what effect they had on those around them and I have no doubt whatsoever that Andraya had quite an effect on everyone she knew.

"She is someone who I believe will be missed with tears but remembered with smiles.

“It is often in the worst of times that you see the very best of people through simple acts of love and kindness.

“She was a definitely a colourful character who at the same time was kind and saw the best in everyone.”

In paying tribute to Andraya, the family described her as having “the gift of the gab”.

Her love of ladybirds was also mentioned during the service as she believed they were angels paying a visit to people to say they are near. Only moments later did one of the congregation speak out to say there was a ladybird on her order of service.

A poem, entitled ‘The Moment You Left My Life’, was also read out at the service by Mr Gleed from the family who felt it had a poignant message for the memorial.

It read: “The moment that you left me, my heart was split in two. One side was filled with memories, the other side died with you. I often lay awake at night when everyone else is fast asleep, and take a walk down memory lane with tears falling on my cheek.

"For remembering you is easy, I do it every day but missing you is a heartache that never goes away.

“I hold you tightly within my heart and there you will remain. You see life has gone on without you but will never be the same.”

During the service, the family also thanked people for the tens of thousands of pounds raised to support Noah and Reggie.

In a statement they said: “Words cannot begin to express how grateful we are and it is times like these that you know who your family and friends are. It truly has helped us to restore faith in mankind.

“Andraya was a generous, loving, bubbly, funny, clever, caring person that saw the good in everyone that became part of her life. She would always go that extra step to help her friends when she could.

“Andraya was a much loved daughter, sister, 'Aunty Dray', friend and most importantly... mother. Those boys were her world and it’s hard to believe she will not see them grow up, be their shoulder to cry on and support them through life.”

Donations collected will be donated to Women’s Aid Swindon.