THE wife of aid worker Alan Henning has spoken of her family's pride ahead of a private memorial service to remember him.

The married father-of-two was murdered by so called Islamic State after being taken hostage when he joined a convoy from Great Lever with his friends from Bolton to deliver food and supplies to refugees in Syria.

The service will take place at Eccles Parish Church in his hometown today.

Barbara Henning said: "Today family and friends will be gathered to remember Alan and celebrate his life.

“His death, caused by a senseless act of barbarity, has left family and friends devastated and worst of all, his children without their loving, funny and amazing dad.

“The children cannot come to terms with why a person would carry out such an act on a fellow human being. We as adults cannot understand why; it will take a long time, if ever, for them to try to comprehend.

“Alan was a peaceful, selfless man who left his family in the UK at Christmas 2013 to drive in a convoy all the way to Syria with his Muslim colleagues and friends to help those most in need. We as a family are extremely proud of him."

Mrs Henning added: “Lucy and Adam understood why he had to go, he had explained to them how he had seen children with nothing, living in tents and queuing for food and water and how much harder it was for them in the middle of winter.

"Some of these children had lost their entire families, killed by their own country’s leadership.

“On behalf of the entire family, I want to thank everyone who campaigned for Alan’s release, who held vigils to pray for his safe return, and who condemned those who took him. Your efforts were a great support to us, and we take comfort in knowing how many people stood beside us in hoping for the best.

“In the end nothing made a difference. We have watched whilst these evil people have murdered innocent people — not only Alan, David, James, Steven and now Peter, but also thousands of men, women and children who did not conform to their ideals.

“These people are hiding behind a peaceful religion to carry out their crimes against humanity. We know this because we have seen the outcry from Muslims across the globe, condemning their behaviour.

“I only hope that we can bring these people to justice, or that they receive the justice they deserve in the next life. No God would ever condone the killing of innocent people.”