'Momentous day' - New funeral chapel opens in West Sussex village

East Preston Conservative Hall, in Sea Road, has been converted into a funeral chapel – to be run by Ian Hart Funeral Directors.

It has been named after June Sutherland – one of the first female funeral directors in Sussex. June worked in the industry in Worthing and Littlehampton for more than 60 years.

For June, this was not a job, rather a vocation to which she gave her all – and her family believe it was a calling for her. She helped so many families, often up to three generations over the years, during some of their darkest and saddest days.

Announcing the opening of the June Sutherland Chapel on Wednesday (November 19), a post on Ian Hart Funeral Service’s Facebook page read: “Today is a momentous day for the company, as we were joined by Malcolm Sutherland and the rest of June’s family to cut the ribbon and officially open the chapel.

“It was wonderful to see faces old and new, and show them around our new premises. As well as being wowed by a canapé selection provided by our in-house caterers Adrian and Kerry.

“We look forward to welcoming residents of East Preston and surrounding areas over the next couple of days, who will get a warm welcome from Sam and the rest of the team.”

The chapel opens after ‘nine months of hard work’, with a complete renovation of the site.

On Thursday and Friday – from 9am to 4.30pm – Ian Hart and his team will be on hand at the new chapel to welcome in residents of the local area.

A public invite read: “As well as giving you a chance to put a face to the name, our in-house caterers Adrian and Kerry will be onsite serving their show stopping food so come hungry!”

Funeral director Sam Hart said it has been a ‘long road’ to get to this point.

“The building became available and it took some time to get it through,” he said. “We got the keys in February and hit the ground running as soon as we could.

“We went to a parish council meeting in the beginning of March. There's been pushbacks but we're really glad to be able to say that we've got the doors opening this week.

"We're very lucky that we've had lots of good local trades people on hand to make it the incredible building that it now is. It was in a bit of disrepair and it needed some love – we've given that. We've given it a new lease of life.

“We want to offer a private, intimate location in the heart of East Preston that gives families in the local area somewhere to be able to say goodbye to their loved one.”

Some residents were unhappy about plans to transform the hall.

"There was a petition against it that got 50 signatures,” Sam said.

“There's been a small minority that maybe have pushed against it, but from a resident's point of view, the majority of East Preston couldn't have been more welcoming to us.

"We're really thankful for that, and we look forward to working closely with them in the coming years.”

Sam said the aim is to give people the chance to have a full service and wake for loved ones they’ve lost.

He added: “We can do religious and non-religious funerals, celebrations of life – we can given families the option to do whatever they want to do.

"I’m really looking forward to meeting people, showing them what we've done with the place, and letting them put a face to the name.

"We're caring and we want to help them through what can be a tough time for families.”

The new funeral chapel is based at 41 Sea Road, East Preston, BN16 1JN.