203 Bunty Bateman
Connections with Brighton and Hove :
Marguerite Bateman, affectionately known as “Bunty” by the many people who knew and loved her, moved to Nevill Road in Hove in 2002 after her husband passed away, to live near her daughter in Brighton.
Bunty was 72 when she moved to Hove, and instantly found a myriad of ways to continue the incredible campaigning, volunteering and support work she had been undertaking in every place she had resided since her late 30s; supporting a wide range of people and causes.
This included:
Doing research and volunteering for Age UK and Brighton University, where she became a peer researcher, conducted fieldwork, analysed data, contributed to report writing, and supplied their coffee mornings with many home-made treats!
Becoming a Patient Educator and giving talks to 3rd year medical students at Brighton and Sussex Medical School about older people, their needs, and how to address them. Before Bunty passed away, she was even booked in to do a Zoom for students so that they could ask her embarrassing questions, to help them in their future roles as Doctors.
In 2014, Bunty also became involved in a pilot ‘Community Navigators’ scheme, based in GP Surgeries to support patients who have social as well as medical needs.
Bunty worked at multiple sites including Benfield Valley Healthcare Hub in Hove, and continued in this role until 2020; having offered advice and support to more than 200 people. In 2015 she was chosen as a representative of the scheme to meet the Conservative Minister, Rob Wilson MP when he visited the project where Bunty was volunteering.
She was a volunteer charity funding bid reviewer for Brighton and Hove City Council.
In 2016 Bunty received a Citizens award from Rotary for her work in the community, including befriending people through the Hangleton and Knoll Project. The Hangleton and Knoll Project posthumously awarded Bunty the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2021, in recognition of her long-standing contributions to the Project’s work, and the positive impact she made over the years to the lives of countless local residents in Brighton and Hove.
Bunty was dedicated to championing the wellbeing of local communities, and helped improve many local health services.
She attended the West Hove Health Forum and met with Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group as a patient advocate and health champion. Bunty’s knowledge of the health and social care enabled her to provide outstanding support for the local residents she supported through her roles with the Hangleton and Knoll Project, Together Co and Age UK. She was tenacious in ensuring people receive the care and resources they were entitled to.
In 2019 she did a talk at the Amex stadium to 500 people about volunteering.
Bunty continued as a volunteer telephone befriender for the Hangleton and Knoll Project throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, providing a friendly and very necessary lifeline to many local residents. She continued telephoning her clients until the day she died.
Bunty passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on 6 February 2021, at the age of 90, from an undiagnosed heart problem. Despite her age, this was a shock to all who knew her, as Bunty had never let age get in the way of living her life. The following quotes have been gathered from Bunty’s colleagues and friends in Brighton and Hove as a testimonial to her incredible life and work
203 Volvo Gemini - carried name since October 2022.
Names on the buses
