Sussex Dove Release

04/05/2026

04/05/2026

Yesterday was International Bereaved Mothers Day and today this post is both to honour the love and unshakeable bond they share with their baby, but also those children who grow up with a sibling missing from their lives … as some of the children here have. If you know a child sad or confused by such a loss, give us a ring. A dove release may help them to both release and reconnect in a new way. 🕊️💟🕊️ 👼

04/05/2026

Being a woman in business is never about competing. It’s about inspiring, encouraging and co-operating as best you can. Last week I met bubbly and enthusiastic Anna, who’s just starting her dove release company. Her love for the birds is so special and as I passed on some of our youngsters I was fully confident they were going to a great home. We will keep in touch and support one another because what we primarily do is love our birds. Second to that is the way they bless those honoured to hold and release them… and through the beauty of that exchange we get one of the most special jobs ever! I don’t have to send you love Anna Newman, you’re going to be experiencing and sending that out every day from now on as your little feathered friends work their magic! 🕊️💕🕊️💕🕊️

This week I got to meet the lovely Viv from Sussex Dove Release, who kindly gifted me 24 beautiful birds to help us on our way to building a successful business. Women supporting women is a powerful thing 🤍

02/05/2026

Saying goodbye is so important. 💕🕊️💕

01/05/2026

Don't forget to say goodbye! This lovely video tells a message so close to my heart.

After being to hundreds of funerals with our doves, including some organised by this local funeral director friend of ours, as well as experiencing losses in our own family, we understand the temptation to 'keep things simple', especially when funds are tight, but giving everyone a chance to pay their respects and say goodbye is such an important part of the recovery and healing journey we all embark on at this time.

Life is shared with loved ones. Death needs to be also.

We, our family and friends, children too, need an opportunity to release our loved one as well as to reflect and commit to taking the love they blessed us with forward on their behalf.

This is an important opportunity to let love fly.

There are lots of ways to do this, so if you're confused or reluctant and want someone to simply talk to until you can find what you really want amongst the tears, ring us, say "I want to talk..." and we'll listen until you find those answers. ❤🕊❤

https://fb.watch/GQ4YM3g9OQ/

27/04/2026

We weren’t the only ones paying our respect to angel baby Jamie on his 9th birthday last Friday. Watch what the first dove does as he is released…. I’ve done hundreds of releases over the last decade and I’ve never seen a dove double back like that. You’ve heard me say it - they are magical and tuned into something we don’t understand! Well done Bo, now called BJ after baby Jamie. The family were awestruck by the@message of love you left them with ❤️🕊️

22/04/2026

Me and my beautiful and so tame Bobbly Blue having a cuddle and enjoying the sunshine as we wait for a funeral service to finish.
It’s a bit windy today, but experienced and strong flyers, Blue and Oscar B will use that to their advantage and cover the 4 miles home way quicker than I will!
Love my doves! 🕊️💖🕊️

20/04/2026

The bird lifts into the pale sky,
wings steady against the stillness.
Below, its reflection lingers a moment longer,
as if memory refuses to let go.

I watch it rise and think of you,
of all the moments you left behind.
Not in grand gestures or final words,
but in the quiet details of everyday life.

There’s so much of you still here,
in ways I didn’t notice before.
In habits I’ve carried forward,
in things I say without thinking.

Forgetting was never really possible,
not with how deeply you existed here.
You left traces in everything familiar,
things I encounter without warning.

And sometimes it feels like that reflection,
something just beneath the surface.
Not gone, not fully reachable,
but always present in some way.

So I don’t try to forget anymore,
I just learn how to remember differently.

—Angels Are Near

20/04/2026

I once told someone I don’t get much repeat business… but that’s not true.
Our first dove release for still born Jamie was a single dove on his 1st birthday, we took 2 for his 2nd, he had 3 doves on … you’ve got it.
On Friday we will be back at his little graveside with 9 doves.
Happy 9th Birthday Jamie, from a family who will always love and remember you. ❤️ 🧸❣️ 🕊

12/04/2026

All our wildlife need is our respect … ❤️

We Kill Her on Sight. She Is 15 Years Old and Has Never Bitten Anyone.
A beautifully patterned female Adder coils tightly on a sun-warmed stone in the mid-April heath, her body tensing as heavy hiking boots approach her resting spot.

"I have hissed at every giant who stepped too close for fifteen years," she breathes, her striking dark zigzag bold against the rock. "I always let them walk away unhurt, yet they still raise stones to crush me."

We often perceive our native snake as an aggressive, vicious predator, lurking in the undergrowth waiting to strike at our children and dogs.

In reality, the Adder (Vipera berus) is incredibly timid. A defensive bite occurs almost exclusively if they are stepped on or deliberately attacked. Right now in mid-April, they must expose themselves to the sun to survive after a long hibernation. Producing venom is metabolically complex and exhausting; wasting it on a massive human is a total biological failure for her. She will always prefer to flee or intimidate. As a stealthy ecosystem regulator, she tirelessly hunts hundreds of rodents, massively limiting the spread of ticks and Lyme disease across our moorlands.

Watch your step on heathlands and keep dogs on clear paths. If she hisses, step back slowly and give her space to retreat.

She warns. You retreat. It is the only contract she asks you to respect.