Tester & Jones Funeral Services

19/12/2025

Our BG2 Bereavement Group held a lovely 'bring and share' festive lunch recently. During the event, the group very kindly gave both Glenys and Tricia a Christmas present to thank them both for their hard work organising regular meetings and trips for our BGs.

We hope all our BGs have a peaceful Christmas.

18/12/2025

We feel very privileged to support so many local families at such a difficult time and are very proud of the thank you letters and notes we receive afterwards, such as this one:

16/12/2025

Here at Tester & Jones Funeral Services, we are proud that more than £62,870 has been raised for charities and good causes during 2025, via our 'donations and tributes' page, managed by MuchLoved.

14/12/2025

Team Tester & Jones has had another busy day. Jo very much enjoyed the Carol Service at St Michael and All Angels Jarvis Brook this afternoon - which was another opportunity to admire the stunning Christmas Tree Festival. Our T&J tree is still looking gorgeous and will remain in the church until January.

Rev Judith Wilkinson revealed that the Festival had raised £1,100 over the weekend. The winning tree was decorated by Jarvis Brook School in its first year of entering. Many congratulations!

At the same time, Glenys and 19 members of our Bereavement Group (the BGs) were in Crowborough Community Centre watching a matinee performance of Excalibur, this year's pantomime from The Crowborough Players. It was absolutely brilliant!

14/12/2025

LIGHT A CANDLE: When remembering a loved one, many of us will light a candle – whether at home or when visiting a church. But, why do we do this? As Sunday 14 December is Worldwide Candle Lighting Day, we thought we’d take a look into the tradition of memorial candles.

A look back into history suggests that lighting a candle in memory of a loved one can be traced back to the 4th and 5th centuries, when the Macedonians would light candles for up to 40 days after a death. They believed the flame would ward off ghosts and demons.

The Greeks and Romans then believed that torches and candles would guide the deceased person on their final journey, while early pagans would bury their loved ones with unlit lamps and candles to give them light.

Moving forward in time, Christians began to use candles during funeral services, lit them on anniversaries of a death or left them burning by a grave.

On a significant anniversary, we know that some of our families light a candle at home and leave it alongside a photograph of their loved one. In this instance, the candle shows that their memory lives on and still burns bright. Again, it also brings an element of ritual, which people can find comforting.

In the time of social media, people might light candles at home and share the photos online. Some online sites, including our own ‘donations and tributes’ page offers visitors the chance to light a candle in somebody’s memory, as well as leaving a message or donating to their chosen charity.

13/12/2025

13/12/2025

Our festive team afternoon was made extra special with a performance by Ceiron Faux Not King Cole. At the end of his brilliant set, Ceiron was joined by our very own Louise.

13/12/2025

We are so lucky to have an amazing team here at Tester & Jones Funeral Services and today we enjoyed being together to celebrate Christmas 🎄

12/12/2025

The St Michael and All Angels Jarvis Brook Festival of Christmas Trees was officially opened by Crowborough's Mayor, Councillor Natalie Whittle, this morning. As usual, it is absolutely magical.

The Festival is open until 6.00pm today (Friday) and from 10.00am to 6.00pm tomorrow (Saturday). There's then another opportunity to see the Christmas trees, if you attend the Carol Service at 3.00pm on Sunday.

After you've enjoyed the Festival, there are festive refreshments in the church hall.

We loved all the trees - but are particularly proud of the Tester & Jones one, which includes messages written by members of our Bereavement Group (the BGs).

12/12/2025

Tomorrow we welcome Ringmer to the Tester and Jones Sportsground.

Having met three times already this season we know each other well and have produced three superb games of football.

Kick off 3pm

10/12/2025

Often, when somebody suffers a bereavement, it’s hard to know what to do and we often go onto autopilot – typically sending a sympathy card or some flowers. However, in her recent book ‘Now is not the time for flowers’ Stacey Heale was clear that flowers were probably the last thing she wanted when her husband died.

We know that death is something many people find extremely hard to talk about and sometimes we avoid contacting a friend or family member after a death, as we simply don’t know what to say. We also hear ourselves saying ‘just let me know if you need anything’. While this is kind, very often, the bereaved person has no real idea what it is they do need at that time.

If you’re able, then cooking food is a useful way of supporting a bereaved family.

Read more in our blog: https://www.testerandjones.co.uk/post/how-to-offer-support

08/12/2025

RESPECT FOR THE FUNERAL CORTEGE: At Tester & Jones Funeral Services, we have been a proud member of SAIF independent funeral directors since we were established more than 20 years ago. Recently another member of SAIF – Spire Funeral Services based in Chesterfield – shared a post on social media that went viral. It simply asked that drivers give their funeral corteges respect, when out on the road.

While, in the most part, drivers are courteous when we are out on the road, we have noticed that, sadly, this isn’t always the case. Interestingly, when we spoke to Funeral Director Mick Wood, recently for a ‘meet the team’ piece we asked him what changes he had noticed in the funeral industry since he first started working in it 40 years ago. He noted a few changes, including not so many flowers, fewer services in a church setting and, a general change in attitude to funeral cars enroute to a funeral.

Why do we drive slowly? There are two main reasons – to emulate the sombre progression of a traditional funeral procession which, in itself, shows respect and, also, to keep our funeral cars together as we make our journey.

Sometimes, family cars join us as part of the cortege and – as they aren’t necessarily black – it might not be obvious that they are part of our group. In that case, we do offer the drivers small black flags, which can be attached to the windows.

Read more in our latest blog: https://www.testerandjones.co.uk/post/respect-for-the-funeral-cortege