After six and half years as rector of Kingsdown, Ringwould, Ripple and Sutton, the Rev Cathy Sigrist is moving on.

The rector, of Upper Street, Kingsdown, was licensed on May 6, 2010 – a day, she says, she will never forget. It was a general election day.

Since then she has been welcomed into peoples’ homes, conducted many special ceremonies and even successfully battled with Kent County Council to introduce a 20mph speed limit in Kingsdown.

Her final service before moving to Cornwall was a Remembrance Service at St John the Evangelist, Kingsdown, on Sunday.

She said: “There are so many memories that I will always treasure. Just some include getting to know the children in Kingsdown School. They always ask the most challenging questions!

“Also, being welcomed into peoples’ homes and having the chance to get to know them. I’ve listened to so many fascinating stories that often stay untold, from John – who was a member of a Dambuster squadron during the Second World War to a soldier who was one of the first members of the SAS in Africa – to mention just two.”

She says it has been a great joy to conduct so many weddings, renewal of wedding vows and baptisms and also a privilege to conduct funeral services and journeying with bereaved family members, at what are very often the most vulnerable times of their lives.

She said: “During my time here I have also tried to open up the churches and to encourage members of the community to use the buildings.

“In Kingsdown this meant replacing the non-existent heating system so that the building can now be used throughout the year. Parish churches are there for the use of the whole community and I feel very passionately that they should be used as much as possible for different events, and not just for an hour or so on a Sunday morning.”

As a parish councillor for five years, she is proud to have been involved with many different community issues and battled with KCC for many of those years to introduce the 20mph speed limit in Kingsdown. The reduced speed limit was introduced earlier this year.

She will start her new role as the priest in charge of the Saltash cluster, in Cornwall, on December 4.