Freeman Brothers was first established as a funeral director in Horsham, West Sussex, in 1855. The company now has a further three offices across the county – in Billingshurst, Crawley and Hurstpierpoint – and includes a community team dedicated to supporting these areas. The team is working towards the company’s annual Community Remembrance Service on 4th December, and Becky shares more here…
As this post goes live, there are just two weeks to go until our 2024 Community Remembrance Service. Preparations are moving quickly now, and there’s already a lot that we’ve done!
We’ve pre-recorded sections of this year’s service on two different dates. A day was spent travelling to three of our offices, plus the location of the in person event – Hills Cemetery Chapel – to prepare footage ahead of the night itself. Not all of my colleagues are able to join us on the day, but it has always been important to us that as many of the team as possible are involved. Much as they are very happy to play their important parts behind the scenes, it’s my colleagues who work on the funerals themselves who many of you will recognise, and we know that a familiar face at a distressing time can be very important. So we encourage them to feature in a way that they are comfortable with, and you’ll see their contribution whether you join us in person or watch online.
The other group we must thank is our friends at the Phoenix Choir of Crawley, who again generously performed for us ahead of time. I won’t spoil the surprise of what this year’s song is, but I will tell you that being there whilst the footage was captured was again a lovely experience, and the performance has translated perfectly to camera.
If you would like to join us for the event, tickets are still available, free of charge, so please get in touch if you would like to be there on the night. The event takes place in Horsham on Wednesday 4th December, starting at 7.00pm, and we will as always be providing light refreshments afterwards. If you can’t make it, you will be able to watch live via our YouTube channel – we recommend joining at 7.00pm, as the livestream works in the same way as live TV does. However, if the timing doesn’t work for you, the recording will be available to watch at your convenience immediately afterwards, so nobody has to miss out.
There’s still time to submit names to be read out during the Act of Remembrance. We understand that it’s important to some people to hear the names of their loved ones, and this is a popular element of the Service. Do send these to us by the end of Friday 29th November to ensure that they are on the list – as ever, we are accepting both people and pets (if you hear a name which perhaps doesn’t sound human within the list, this could be why!).
As with previous occasions, my colleagues and I will be reading various poems on the night. We are welcoming a guest speaker – one of our local celebrants, Croianna Bradshaw – and there is also a special live musical performance which I’m really looking forward to.
We appreciate this annual opportunity to give back to those who have entrusted their loved ones to our care. Our event is again taking place during National Grief Awareness Week – a time when we are encouraged to recognise the impact of bereavement, which can often be longer than we expect. The winter can be a lonely time of year – it looks and feels like the rest of the world is having fun, there are constant reminders of festivities, and if that’s not how you too are feeling, it can feel as though your own thoughts and feelings have been forgotten. Sharing this space is a chance to remind people that they are not alone, it’s ok to miss someone, and we share your remembrance of them. We hope that you can join us.
