More than 350 mourners, including close friends and colleagues from the travel industry, attended the funeral yesterday at St Peter’s Church, Woodmansterne, of the late Penny Akam, former head of events of the Travel Weekly group and sister division, the Hair & Beauty group.
Penny, who was 43, died after a short and brave battle with cancer earlier this month, leaving her husband and two sons, Jake and Luke.
Among those to address the congregation were Travel Weekly lifetime vice-president Trevor Harding, affectionately known by Penny as “Pops”. Harding, who referred to Penny as his adopted daughter, recalled Penny’s achievements, particularly in organising the annual Globe Travel Awards during her 19 years at the TW group.
Her father George, husband Mark and young Jake all paid moving tributes to Penny.
A further tribute was paid at last night’s Alternative Awards in London, where Harding again asked the industry to enjoy the night in memory of Penny, who always attended the annual event.