(Part 1) LAUGHING JOHN DAINES HORSE DRAWN FUNERAL Holy Trinity Church Rayleigh Essex SUGAR MAN

Filmed by Geoff on behalf of myself, Ruthie (Ponytailruth) as I was busy photographing this funeral instead. Sorry about the rain splashing on my lens as it was unavoidable. John Daines was born 10th August 1952 and died 25th June 2019. John had lived in Rayleigh all his life but suffered gradually worsening mental health issues over the years. John was a very well-known local character in Rayleigh, where he spent all his time wandering up and down the high street and talking to everyone. He was affectionately known as 'Laughing John Of Rayleigh' as he had the loudest and most distinctive constant laugh that could be heard for miles.
When John died alone in his flat, aged 66, there was nobody to take care of things and that is when our local Rayleigh community instantly stepped in to help. Thankfully, everyone offered their services totally free of charge, to make sure that John had the best funeral humanly possible.
Adams Funeral Services of Rayleigh took care of all the arrangements and Nick Cook of Cook's Carriages provided a Victorian horse-drawn carriage. Courts of Rayleigh did the funeral flowers. My partner Geoff Stokes made the videos under my Youtube username, Pontaitailruth and I did the photography. The British Heart Foundation shop provided clothing and a lady called Michelle has done the genealogy to try and find John's family history. Barry Rust did John's portrait picture, of which copies are displayed all over the town. Holy Trinity Church of Rayleigh provided the funeral service and their bell ringers. John's ashes will be buried in his parents' grave in the church grounds.
There is also a GoFundMe page to raise funds for a memorial to John, that will be in Rayleigh High Street. Any surplus donations will go to the charity, Mind. https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-...
The funeral took place at 12:30pm, at Holy Trinity Church, Rayleigh. The Victorian horse-drawn hearse procession walked from John's home and entered the High Street from Castle Road, taking John on his last journey through the High Street. John's procession paused at the Town Clock before arriving for the church service. Here is my photo album. It's a shame that the constant rain kept splashing my cameral lens. https://www.facebook.com/ruth.archer....