Hundreds fill Cirencester church and line street in tribute to ‘amazing’ mum and nurse

An emotional service was packed out in a testament to her popularity

Sarah Lumley Multimedia Reporter 16:03, 07 Jul 2026

Hundreds outside the funeral service for 'amazing' Cirencester nurse Sarah Jayne Crook (inset)(Image: GloucestershireLive; Wiltshire Police)

Hundreds of mourners filled a Cirencester[1] church and the street outside in tribute to an 'amazing' mum and nurse who died in a crash last month.

was involved in a collision on the morning of June 5, when a Vauxhall Vivaro van crashed with her Toyota Aygo on the A419 in Swindon, Wiltshire.

The 38-year-old's family had previously[2] described her as an "amazing wife, mother, sister, daughter, aunt and friend". A fundraising page raised GBP32,000 to support her husband Andrew and family, stating that she left behind six children and was "one in a million".

A family tribute issued by police said: "We've been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and respect for her and the support for ourselves.

We would like to say thank you to the hundreds of people who have sent condolences and memories of her."

Yesterday morning, St John the Baptist Church in the centre of Cirencester was full to capacity as friends, family and colleagues turned out to say farewell to Sarah at her funeral.

As the weekly Cirencester Charter Markets continued outside, at least 300 people gathered inside the church for Sarah's send-off.

Her coffin was carried out after the service and crowds of people watched as the hearse was driven from the north entrance of the church on Gosditch Street and round the corner through Market Place.

Sarah's nursing colleagues alone made up close to 100 of the people who attended the service, and inside the church it was standing room only as there was not enough seating to accommodate all the well-wishers who turned up.

Speaking after the service, Sarah's friends Camilla Alicia Bates and Katherine Lucy Bates, who run Cirencester Creative Dance Academy, said Sarah is "sorely missed".

Sarah Jayne Crook

Camilla said: "Sarah was one of our dance parents. We have a dance school and all of her kids have attended, three of them are currently still there.

"We've known her for years. All her kids have taken part and danced in our shows.

We just had our dance show this week and she was sorely missed. Incredibly, two of her children still danced in the production, somehow, after losing their mum just weeks ago."

Katherine added: "She was always there. She was always going out of her way to make sure that they could participate.

"We have a team of backstage helpers and she was always there doing the first aid for us, and that was on top of looking after her kids and her job as a nurse.

She would volunteer to be backstage helping everyone."

Speaking about the service, Camilla said: "Seeing all the nurses was very emotional. And we had lots of our dance mums attending today as well, and a lot of people from the dance school coming to support. There were no seats, people were standing."

Katherine added: "They ran out of seats.

I think there was easily 300 people here, maybe 350.

"The thing that I took from the service was that not only was she nice out of work, she was incredible in work. Not only did she look after the patients, she looked after her community at work as well."

Rachel King, Sarah's university friend, said: "She was just the sweetest lady. It's a really big loss to everybody, but it's beautiful to see how many people have turned out here today.

"We'll all miss her, she was a great girl.

There's nothing negative to say about Sarah, she was a sweetheart."

Wiltshire Police said the collision happened at around 8.30am on Friday, June 5 near the White Hart Roundabout.

The force previously issued an appeal for witnesses and said information can be passed to the Serious Investigation Team on 01225 694597 quoting log number 61 of June 5.

References

1. ^ Cirencester (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
2. ^ The 38-year-old's family had previously (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)