“Bungard Local”, is a new initiative to help bring together our local independent retailers and help to promote shopping locally, in turn helping to keep our businesses alive. So many small independents are struggling at the moment and we want to help raise more awareness within our community so that we ‘Think Local’ first!

We endeavour to:
1. Support Local Business through Social Media
2. For every Funeral Plan sold and/or recommended we will give a £50 gift voucher from a local independent company of their choice.
3. Use local suppliers wherever possible. Avoiding Amazon, international & national chains and large groups and instead support Local.

We shall provide more information over the coming months about the ideas we have for Bungard Local. Keep your eyes peeled.
Let’s try to build our social media presence together by posting regularly about our services, commenting on and liking other businesses posts (& reciprocal hashtags on Twitter) and following each other’s accounts.

#BungardLocal #BrightonandHoveLocalBusiness #Hove #Brighton #LocalBusiness

Today marks the launch of “Bungard Local”, a new initiative that brings together our local independent retailers and help to promote shopping locally to help keep our businesses alive. So many small independents are struggling at the moment and we want to help raise more awareness within our community so that we ‘Think Local’ first!

From today we endeavour to:
1. Support Local Business through Social Media
2. For every Funeral Plan sold and/or recommended we will give a £50 gift voucher from a local independent company of their choice.
3. Use local suppliers wherever possible. Avoiding Amazon, international & national chains and large groups and instead support Local.

We shall provide more information over the coming months about the ideas we have for Bungard Local. Keep your eyes peeled.

Five months of the pandemic has created many debts, many friends and family find themselves jobless and tens of thousands of businesses are out of business. We need to support each other to survive. So let’s all support each other. Spend local. Help your friend’s businesses whenever you able to. Help keep small businesses in your community going.

So how do we start?
Let’s try to build our social media presence together by posting regularly about our services, commenting on and liking other businesses posts (& reciprocal hashtags on Twitter) and following each other’s accounts.

#BungardLocal #BrightonandHoveLocalBusiness #Hove #Brighton #LocalBusiness

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, ‘ You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down! ‘How in the world did you know that?’ asked Plumb. ‘I packed your parachute,’ the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, ‘I guess it worked!’ Plumb assured him, ‘It sure did. If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.’ Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, ‘I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning, how are you?’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.’ Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’t know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, ‘Who’s packing your parachute?’ Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory – he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognise people who pack your parachutes.

I am sending you this as my way of thanking you for your part in packing my parachute. And I hope you will send it on to those who have helped pack yours! Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word. Maybe this could explain it! When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do – you forward jokes.
And to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded joke. So my friend, next time when you get a joke, don’t think that you’ve been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you’ve been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile, just helping you pack your parachute

https://www.great-inspirational-quotes.com
Author unknown

With all the disruption caused to families during the height of the pandemic and the pain that we all felt in not being able to provide our families with the services they deserved, we are delighted to announce that for us, things are moving back to what we can now refer to as some sense of ‘normality’

We can now allow up to 30 people to attend a funeral as opposed to the 6 we were allowed before, we can allow our limousine to be used again, most churches are allowing services and many reception venues are now back up and running! We can bring the doves and butterflies back, we can provide a full array of beautiful flowers, we can print your service sheets and we can even live stream your service and provide you with keepsake copies if needed! We’ve got it all covered. (All we can’t do is sing, but our crematoriums and churches have access to amazing music libraries so if we all have to ‘lip sync’ for a while then so be it)

We are SO pleased that we can offer our families as near to a ‘normal’ service as we can once again! As caring professionals it has broken our hearts to see some of the families we served have to endure funerals that were bare by comparison, and it pains us that so many families up and down the country had to go through such experiences, but we are now beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and we are doing everything we can to ensure you can now get the service that you want for your loved one and to get it safely.

Your safety is still paramount to us, you can visit us at our office and we will provide masks for you if you wish to wear one, we have hand sanitiser for you, and our Reception Area, Arranging Room and Chapel of Rest are all thoroughly cleaned each time they are used. The Limousine is also cleaned after each use and again provided with masks and sanitizer for you and your family. We are happy to do face to face arranging again and happy for you to visit us at our office in Sackville Road if you wish. If you do not feel comfortable coming in to see us then that is also not a problem, we’ve got quite used to arranging funerals remotely (Zoom calls, or just telephone and email) recently so we will adapt to however you see fit.

Please continue to keep safe, we are not out of this by any means yet, but we will make your experience with us the safest and smoothest that we possibly can. Take Care out there, Richard, Ben, Zoe and Ray.

After researching into how we can further support our local community we came across this little gem of a scheme run by the Ministry of Defence, the ‘Armed Forces Covenant’. We all unanimously agreed that this would be a fantastic scheme to follow and we are proud to announce that we have pledged our support to the armed forces community by signing the Armed Forces Covenant.

We have organised many funerals for fallen servicemen in the past, contacting personnel from their regiment to attend with Regiment colours, helping to track relatives through our extensive files that go back 114 years and organising a standard from the Royal British Legion. We would love for our local community to know that we can help you, even if its in a small way, through our pledge to the Armed Services and their families.

Leonard Whittle, grandfather to Richard, the current Managing Director of Bungards, started working for the company in 1939 a few months before the Second World War broke out, and managed to volunteer even though being a Funeral Director he worked in a ‘reserved occupation’ (this meant that your job was classed important enough to a country that those serving in such occupations were exempt, in fact forbidden, from military service) Leonard wasn’t going to be put off by this small problem and aged 24, and just one year after joining his father-in-law in the family business he was desperate to ‘do his bit’ and he went off to serve as a Corporal for the Royal Artillery manning Anti-Aircraft Guns in Malta during the Second World War.

At Bungards our team have a lot of family history to reflect back upon and some fantastic stories of intense resolve passed down through the generations, from Zoe’s Great-Uncle Jhonny, a firefighter in London, being held by his feet dangling across the dome of St Pauls Cathedral in London batting off incendiary devices as they rained down during the blitz, to Rays father being called out many many times as part of the ambulance service to tend to the maimed during the ‘Brighton Blitz’ when the Luftwaffe bombed Brighton on over 56 occasions. And Ben’s grandfather who fought courageously and went on to become a Major in the Royal Anglian Regiment formed after the war ended.

Hitler was reported to have wanted the Royal Pavilion to be his headquarters after the war ended and insisted the site was not to be bombed, it came scarily close to being destroyed on the 29th November 1940 when a bomb landed between the Pavilion and the Dome but the ground, softened by intense rain, cushioned the impact and the shock-waves were absorbed below ground level saving the two historic buildings from certain ruin. 198 residents from Brighton & Hove lost their lives in World War 2 and 790 were injured during the Brighton Blitz

After reflecting back upon our own families struggles, the part Brighton & Hove played during the war effort, and us having family and friends who are currently in the forces it didn’t take us long to come to the conclusion that now we know about this, we will actively seek to help our servicemen and women in whichever way we can as a business and therefore we will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by:

• Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation;
• Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible;
• Offering support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools, where possible;
• Aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day;
• Offering a discount to members of the Armed Forces Community;

If you yourself, or if you have family members who have been in the Armed Forces please come and talk to us about how we may be able to help you at your time of need. We are proud to be able to be a part of these principles and we would be proud for this time round, to let US Serve YOU.

Bungards have known about Lambert’s for many years, and in these restricted times where people are having to think a little more ‘outside the box’ when it comes to celebrating a loved ones memory we would like to share with you their story.

Lambert’s White Dove Release Brighton was started up in 2015 by Viv Lambert and her daughter Laura. The family run company was started in Enfield in 2009 by Viv’s cousin, they have over 100 birds at their London home and 5 years ago Viv decided to bring doves to the people of Sussex. They have two purpose built dove cottages that currently house about 60 doves – most of whom are now tame enough to feed by hand each day.

The beautiful birds fly freely unless there is a release, then their cottage is closed the night before so they can catch the required number to pop in baskets the next morning. Once in the baskets, they settle and wait happily for release time, then as soon as they’ve performed their service they fly straight back home to meet up with their ‘family’ and enjoy their supper.

Viv explains that “our doves are loved and precious to us, and their welfare is paramount so we never carry out releases indoors, in severe weather conditions or in the dark. Each one of our doves has been extensively and carefully trained to navigate back to its home once released”

Viv then goes on to explain the release process “An experienced handler will arrive with the doves and meet the family at a previously agreed place. The family or person who has booked our dove(s) will be handed the dove, ready for release in its carrier. They may release the dove(s) as and when they wish. Our doves can be removed from the carrier and released by hand if you prefer”

So why have a dove release at a funeral, surely doves are more synonymous with weddings?

Letting go can be one of the hardest things we ever have to do, yet all of us at some time have to do it. For millennia and across cultures, doves have symbolised love, peace and new beginnings. Cradling one gently then releasing it to soar and fly free, watching as it circles and orientates before purposefully heading for home can be a powerful way of relieving grief associated with the loss of a loved one. The message of the dove is simple: life changes shape and form while the love lives on, blessing us forever.

For further information on the doves, to arrange a bespoke release or to speak to Viv about any questions you may have please click here

If you were unable to arrange the service you wanted to as a result of the restrictions put in place, then please do call us. We can discuss the options available to you for celebrating the life of your loved one posthumously.

One example could be a Memorial Service held in the Extra Mural Chapel, which is set in

the extensive grounds of Woodvale Crematorium.

This beautiful little chapel was built in 1851, can hold up to 80 people and has its own

entrance from the Lewes Road.

We can help you to choose a celebrant or minister to take your Memorial, design your

service sheets with you and even arrange a release of White Doves or Butterflies to

complete your tribute if so desired.

If you would like to arrange a memorial but don’t know quite where to start

give us a call and we can help you create something personal and fitting.

On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Dr. Kubler-Ross first explored the now famous five stages of death: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Through sample interviews and conversations, she gives the reader a better understanding of how imminent death affects the patient, the professionals who serve the patient, and the patients family, bringing hope to all who are involved. Click here to purchase.

A Grief Observed by CS Lewis

This classic text of grief is still one of the best books on this subject, even though it is viewed through the lens of a religious feeling in an increasingly secular world. This book was written from the four journals that Lewis kept whilst dealing with the loss of his wife to cancer after only three years of marriage. This is a ground level study of grief, and the observations that Lewis makes in response to his wife’s death are moving and profound. Click here to purchase

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway wrote his memoir at the end of his life to address the writer and man he was at the beginning of his life. It details his years in Paris with his first wife, Hadley, and it is an account of a man grieving for the happiness that accompanied those early years. The grief, in old age, for ones youth, comes to us all in some form, and no one expresses this grief so beautifully and poignantly as Hemingway does in this little book. Click here to purchase

A Very Easy Death by Simone de Beauvoir

When someone is dying of cancer there is a kind of pre-grief that happens while the dying person becomes less themselves through to the changed to their physical body brought about on by the cancer. This short memoir is a powerful account of De Beauvoir’s mothers last days, written in a brutally honest prose that spares the reader nothing of the horrors of an individual life coming close to death. Click here to purchase

Healing Grief by Barbara Ward

A practical guide to help people through all kinds of grieving processes. The author considers divorce and separation, life-threatening illnesses, living with handicap, bereavement and children, death and dying. In each case, her material is illustrated by stories of people she has worked with. Click here to purchase

The Courage to Grieve by Judy Tatelbaum

This unusual self-help book about surviving grief offers the reader comfort and inspiration. Judy Tatelbaum gives us a fresh look at understanding grief, showing us that grief is a natural, inevitable human experience, including all the unexpected, intense and uncomfortable emotions like sorrow, guilt, loneliness, resentment, confusion, or even the temporary loss of the will to live. The emphasis is to clarify and offer help, and the tone is spiritual, optimistic, creative and easy to understand. Click here to purchase

The Early Days of Grieving by Derek Nuttal

This simple and straightforward book is for those who have recently lost a loved one, offering direct and personal support, explanation, and information. Click here to purchase

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

Written by the Buddhist meditation master and popular international speaker Sogyal Rinpoche, this highly acclaimed book clarifies the majestic vision of life and death that underlies the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It includes not only a lucid, inspiring and complete introduction to the practice of meditation, but also advice on how to care for the dying with love and compassion, and how to bring them help of a spiritual kind. But there is much more besides in this classic work, which was written to inspire all who read it to begin the journey to enlightenment and so become ‘servants of peace’. Click here to purchase

‘You’ll Get Over It’: The Rage of Bereavement by Virginia Ironside

The death of a loved one is the most traumatic experience any of us face. No two people cope with it the same way: some cry while others remain dry-eyed; some discover growth through pain, others find arid wastes; some feel angry, others feel numb. Virginia Ironside deals with this complicated and sensitive issue with great frankness and insight, drawing on other’s people’s accounts as well as her own experiences. Click here to purchase