Homeless man’s cortege to stop in town centre
Funeral procession will pause near doorway memorial to David
A funeral procession for a well known homeless man will pass through the town centre street where he used to sleep rough.
Special permission has been granted for a hearse and limousine to drive along the pedestrian zone in Week Street as family and friends say their goodbyes to 47-year-old David Long, who died at King’s College Hospital in London last month.
The cortege will pause at the doorway between Tiger and Halifax bank, where Mr Long could often be seen and where a makeshift memorial has been erected.
Flowers, cards and candles began to proliferate there after news he had died on Friday, September 16.
One mourner wrote: “Dave, you are now with the angels. I will miss you so much.”
Mr Long was a well-known former client of homeless charity Maidstone Day Centre, based in Knightrider Street.
The cortege will start at 1pm today (Friday), and members of the public are invited to pay their respects while it makes its way down the busy shopping area to the High Street.
The procession will then continue on for a private ceremony.
Funeral conductor Ashley Sutton, from Angels Independ- ent Family Funeral Services in Coxheath, said: “It is the first time we have asked to do something like this, and were pleased Maidstone council have agreed to open the gates for us to pass along the street.
“We offered to do it because it was recognised that this shrine had appeared with people laying flowers, and we thought it would be an opportunity for his friends and those who knew him to pay their respects.
“It is the family’s request and we always go out of our way to make the day as personal as we can.”