Funeral for Deborah Samuel

Deborah Samuel, or as many of you knew her, Debbie, sadly passed away on Sunday 8th December.

Debbie’s family shared this update with the wider community:

It is with great sadness that I have to announce the passing of our sister, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, auntie and soon to be great auntie, Debbie Samuel. She was 55 years old.

We are obviously all devastated and heartbroken as she was one in a million. Life has changed forever we miss and love you.

Debbie brought so much light to those around her, and supporting those around her with her time, her encouragement, and her love.

She faced challenges from an early age, and tackled them head on, with the support of her adopted mother, Margaret McLeod, and her sister and brothers. Debbie faced her own demons, but came back strong, and reconnected with all her family over the last 15 years, becoming the heart and soul of Joy in our family.

Beyond that, Debbie was selfless, helping and supporting ex-offenders through her work with the probation service and Synergy Theatre Project . A highlight for Debbie was being part of Hackney Women’s team for London CRC, and representing them at the 2018 Probation Awards, where they won team of the year. She was delighted - Probation Awards 2018 .

As a family, we have pulled together and raised half of the funds for her funeral. We have set up this page to ask those who knew Debbie, laughed with Debbie, loved Debbie - to help us raise the remaining funds needed for her send off. We are pulling together as a family to do as much as we can, and we cannot put into words how grateful we would be for you to help in any way you are comfortable to do so.

Any additional funds raised will be used for the wake.

This is an extremely difficult time for our family - we don't know what to expect doing this, and we'll be immensely grateful for any funds this raise - any proportion of our target, no matter how small, will make a huge difference to the send-off we can do for Debbie.

Mother, Grandmother, Great-grandmother, Sister, Sis, Aunty, Cousin, Daughter, Friend... Debbie… we love you, and we will continue to make you proud.

Regards

Debbie's family.

Update for donation transparency:

Remaining funds to raise for funeral costs: ~3.5k

Funds for the wake: 2k

In the event we raise funds beyond the amounts above specifically for the service & wake, all remaining donations will be directed to Synergy Theatre Project.