Unite Community and People's Eastbourne will unveil a plaque commemorating civil rights activist and singer Paul Robeson's connection to the town.

It will take place at the Winter Garden this Sunday (October 25) at 3pm, with the plaque officially unveiled at 3:30pm as part of the groups’ Black History Month celebrations.

American musician Paul Robeson performed regularly in the Floral Room at the Winter Garden from the late 1920s until 1939.

But he was not only a singer - as well as his musical talent he was an athlete, an accomplished stage and film actor, an Ivy League-trained lawyer, a speaker of multiple languages and a notable civil rights activist.

He joined workers on strikes, struck up a lifelong friendship with poverty-stricken Welsh miners after he’d heard them singing while on their hunger march to London and visited brigades on the front lines in the Spanish Civil War’s fight against fascism.

Unite Community member Carol Mills, who has arranged for the plaque and event, said: "Once I learnt of Paul Robeson's connection with Eastbourne I was determined that a lasting and fitting commemoration would be established.

"A plaque in his honour at the Winter Garden, where he regularly performed, is an important first step."

The event is part of Unite Community and People's Eastbourne's commitment to celebrating the town's radical and working class history.

Tickets for the Paul Robeson event on Sunday are available at https://trafalgartickets.com/eastbourne-theatres-eastbourne/en-GB/event/community/a-celebration-of-paul-robeson-tickets.

The next phase for commemorating Paul Robeson will be an information board about his life that will be displayed at a yet-to-be agreed location in Eastbourne.