Bumper year for donations to Sussex causes

More than 80 hours of time and more than £5,000 of cash and goods were donated to the local community by funeral colleagues last year in Sussex.

In 2018/19 dozens of local causes benefitted from donations from Caring Lady Funeral Director colleagues from spare time to cakes and hampers.

With six different branches across Sussex, donations of goods, cash or time were made on nearly 70 separate occasions.
Lucy Harvey, Funeral Co-ordinator at the Hove branch, has been dedicating her spare time to assisting residents at Sycamore Court Care Home.

Lucy said: “Sensory aides are incredibly important as they really help residents with more advance Alzheimer’s with focus and anxiety issues.

“To help we’ve been creating handmade ‘twiddle muffs’ which are sensory aids with different materials, ribbons, buttons and string. I have also introduced a regular dog-petting session which creates a level of communication for the residents that is often ignored.

“It is great to see the residents benefit so much from this so I have also been speaking to the local high school to see if the older children can also visit Sycamore Court and provide a much needed social interaction with all parties involved.”

Caring Lady Funeral Directors branches include Worthing at 72 Newland Road, Goring by Sea at 56 Goring Road, Shoreham at 68 High Street, Brighton at 155 Lewes Road, Hove at 38 Blatchington Road, and Peacehaven at 217 South Coast Road.

Jessica Hughes, Community Investment Manager, said: “Our colleagues work incredibly hard throughout the year to support their local communities. It is something we are especially proud of.

“But this year, when we sat down and looked back at the whole year, we were overwhelmed by the time and effort they have put in. This is in addition to donations made by people in memory of their loved ones.

“Our community engagement programme enables our colleagues to donate their time as well as cash and goods. In a world where we are all rushing around, giving someone an hour of your time can be invaluable.”

From February 2018 to January 2019 other examples include Christmas and Easter collections across all of the branches for Chestnut Tree House Hospice, a fashion show in Goring for St Barnabas Hospice, a donation to St John’s Preschool for an outside play area, a community garden project at Eastbrook Academy Primary School, and a kit donation to Peacehaven under 7s football team.