OUT IN THE FIELD: Funeral live streaming at Eastbourne Crem repaired, fond farewell to colleagues and community pulls together
As the old saying goes, sometimes the pen is mightier than the sword. Even when it comes to the likes of Eastbourne’s Tommy Tomlin, who fought so bravely for his Queen and country during his time as a Royal Marine in some of the world’s toughest conflicts and passed away earlier this month. A friend of Tommy’s contacted the Herald last week saying how disappointed he was that he would not be able to watch the live streaming of his buddy’s funeral service from Eastbourne Crematorium next Friday (November 6) as the equipment there had been broken for the last two months – and sadly it was unlikely to be fixed in time. A few frantic phone calls ensued and with some help from a handful of fabulous council officials, as I write, the equipment is being fixed and should be up and running again very soon. Not only will Tommy’s funeral now be live streamed to his friends and former colleagues across the world but also the last farewells of others who have passed away whose loved ones – because of this dratted coronavirus – are unable to be there among the restricted number to pay their final respects.
Finally this week, three of our much loved and respected friends and colleagues at the Eastbourne Herald are moving onto pastures new. Our editorial secretary and Mrs Fix-it Inge Keats is leaving us along with news reporter Ginny Sanderson, who has landed a great job with the digital engagement unit on The Scotsman, and fellow journalist Juliet Mead who is joining the central features team within jpimedia, the publishers of the Eastbourne Herald. We will miss them terribly as they leave our close-knit work family but wish them lots of love and luck for the future.