13/12/2022

How Care, Compassion and Service Have Always Been Strengths at Haine & Son

Haine Son Eastbourne 033 JH

Our teams at Haine & Son are unrelenting in their dedication to serving the local community and caring for families before, during and after family funeral arrangements.

With funeral homes located in four closely linked Sussex towns, Haine & Son serves Eastbourne, Polegate, Battle, and Hailsham and the surrounding local communities in this southern corner of East Sussex. Fortunate to be able to offer contemporary and comfortable funeral homes to welcome the families who we support, our doors are always open. With years of experience and a rich heritage in funeral planning, Haine & Son is on a mission to combine heartfelt care with excellent standards of service across all our funeral services.

A proud history for Haine & Son

Founded in 1838, Haine & Son, Eastbourne has a very proud history and is the oldest funeral directors in the area and still operates from the original nineteenth century offices on South Street in Eastbourne. As a family-owned business, it goes back through an amazing seven generations and in 2023 we will celebrate 185 years of delivering unique family funerals.

Colleagues supporting families armed with abundant local knowledge

Our teams are experienced and compassionate. We have Howard Coote, our Principal Funeral Director, leading the team at Eastbourne. Howard has worked as a funeral director since 1991 joining Haine & Son in 2003. He has served the community as a Parish councillor since 2003 and now in his sixteenth year, he is Vice Chairman. Paul Martin joined in 2008 and a year later achieved his Foundation Certificate from the NAFD in 2009. With a background in retail, Paul prides himself on his customer service skills. Helen Coote, our Memorial Administrator takes the time to help families create a lasting memorial for their loved ones and is a valuable member of the team.

Leading the team in Hailsham and Polegate is Jodie Hart who has been with Haine & Son for over six years. Having recently completed her diploma in Funeral Directing, Jodie loves hearing peoples’ life stories and is always keen to take part in community events and coffee mornings. Jodie is a designated Dementia Friend. Her team includes Karen Wood who recently obtained a qualification in bereavement counselling, Rhia Carter who is a fully trained mental health first aider, Alison Hopkins, who is an ex-nurse and has recently moved to the area and Paula Charnley, Funeral Arranger who is currently looking to qualify as a Funeral Director.

Always available to offer a listening ear in Battle, is Funeral Director Andy Holter, who is also responsible for delivering Health, Safety, & Wellbeing related training to colleague across the business. Alongside him is Nicola Woodgate who has been at the funeral home for four years. Being a keen gardener, she is delighted that beautiful Battle keeps the village looking pristine with Haine & Son sponsoring the flowerbed outside of the funeral home. Gabby Kinsella, with a background in special educational needs, is a perfect fit and has been at the funeral home since 2021. In the mid-nineties she trained in Bereavement and Loss with CRUSE.

Haine & Son always supporting the local community

We are always delighted to see families and individuals out in the community. Haine & Son in Eastbourne proudly supports the new Willingdon Community Café, which was launched on 23 June 2022. It runs on the fourth Thursday of each month and is free and open to all to attend.

Listen out for Eastbourne Youth Radio (EYR) which Haine & Son helps and supports. Last year the theme was, ‘One Kind Word’ with programmes focusing on related stories.

Haine & Son, Battle, one of the newer funeral homes, organises several charity events. Our charity drive with Barnardo’s, the UK’s leading children’s charity, asked the local community to donate their pre-loved teddy bears to help bring joy to the lives of vulnerable children throughout the UK. In just one month, 257 teddy bears were collected. The appeal was launched at the beginning of January to celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day. The team also host regular free knit & natter sessions, held on the last Friday of the month for all to come along to.

At Haine & Son, Hailsham we collected used stamps for RNIB, one of the UK’s leading sight loss charities. In Polegate, we hosted a Macmillan coffee morning and raised an incredible amount of £159 for a wonderful cause.

From Horam in the north to Langney in the South and east to Broad Oak, Haine & Son serves towns and villages north and south of the Downs

• Eastbourne, Bexhill, Herstmonceux, East Dean, Jevington, Friston, Hellingly, Willingdon, Pevensey and Langney

• Polegate, Willingdon, Jevington, Wannock, Jevington, Langney, Pevensey, Stone Cross and Alfriston

• Hailsham, Chiddingly, Herstmonceux, Golden Cross, Horam, Hellingly, Magham Down and Hankham

• Battle, Hastings, Catsfield, Netherfield, Westfield, Seddlescombe, Robertsbridge, Brede and Bodiam


A listening ear and a smiling face

From our four locations in East Sussex, we take pride in arranging bespoke funerals to suit all budgets. With our years of experience, we understand the finer details of funeral arranging that will make all the difference and make a truly personal service. Our priority is to support you and guide you through this difficult time with care, compassion, and service.


Give us a call or pop in to one of our funeral homes. Whilst funerals are our focus , we can assist with all aspects of grief, counselling needs, and we organise several local community events. We would be delighted to show you around and help answer any questions you might have.