While Rylan visited for the first time last year, Rob now considers himself an honorary member of the community on 9 May.
‘When Rob invited me here last year, I had no idea what I was walking into,’ said Rylan.
‘Then I met so many lovely people and had an absolute ball of a time, so I had to come back this year.’
Rob first joined in on the Liberation Day celebrations in 2022 and has been at each event since.
He attends both the Tea Dance and the Hangar Ball, and said that each year he meets new people and takes those stories out into the world.
‘On every occasion there will be someone who I’ve met at the tea dance who endured Nazi tyranny, or someone who was evacuated, not knowing what their house would look like when they returned,’ he said.
‘There’s a dwindling number of survivors who have that lived memory, so now more than ever, it is essential to hear those stories. We have these people here to elevate their voice.’
But he said it was the sense of community and inclusion in the island that kept bringing him back, which he said could not be found anywhere else.
‘Guernsey people are the best people in the world, nobody cares who you are, but it’s about what you do, like Dame Mary Perkins,’ he said.
‘Perhaps it’s because of the nature in which Guernsey has grow up, but all immaterial things are not important. You walk down the street and everybody says hello, and they really mean it.’
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