News Archive

1. January 2012:
   • Floral tributes becoming more personalised
     Cars, handbags, shoes, cats, mobile phones and even social networking site logos are among the favourite choices for personalised funeral floral tributes, according to new research by The Co-operative Funeralcare.
     
     About 35% of UK funerals include personalised floral designs, with hobbies and pets or personal possessions featuring prominently.
   • Death comes to life at the Southbank Centre
     Names and items as diverse as Sandy Toksvig, Jon Snow, Julian Lloyd Webber, The BBC Concert Orchestra, gamelan music, AC:DC and a cocoa bean-shaped coffin will be part of a four-day extravaganza at London’s Southbank Centre for Death: Southbank Centre’s Festival for the Living.
     
     From January 27 to 30, the Southbank Centre will be playing host to free and ticketed talks, music, performances and installations that air different approaches and attitudes to death. There will even be a takeaway poetry kiosk.
   • Stained glass cabinet creates 
lasting memorial
     A designer and restorer specialising in wood and stained glass has come up with a new idea to commemorate a loved one – a hand-made hardwood cabinet decorated by a bespoke illuminated stained glass window.
     Paul Sedgwick spent a decade as a designer in the advertising industry but redundancy prompted a change of direction and gave him the opportunity to work with stained glass – a medium that had always interested him.
     
   • X Factor or South Shields service?
     Peter Johnson Funerals in South Shields was missing a soloist from its annual memorial service, as local girl Jade Thirlwall, previously a regular at the service, was committed to TV talent show The X Factor as part of winning girl band Little Mix.
2. December 2011:
   • Funeral payment scheme "outdated" say councils
     The Local Government Association has criticised the “outdated, confusing and time-consuming” Funeral Payment scheme.
     
     An LGA survey of councils in England & Wales says that many more cash-strapped families are turning to their councils to ask for public health funerals, with councils stepping in to provide almost 3,000 last year for people with no next of kin willing or able to pay.
 The organisation blamed the Funeral Payment scheme’s 25-page application form and slow processing time.
   • Ancient remains reburied in Bicester
     The remains of at least 12 people who died more than 1,200 years ago have been reburied, after being unearthed in excavations for a new church centre.
     
     The remains, which included eight full skeletons, were found during excavations for the new Pope John Paul II Centre attached to the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
   • New cremation industry container is 100% biodegradable
     Fibrous Ltd is claiming its new Ecotainer is a first for the cremation industry – a container that is 100% biodegradable. 
     
     The Ecotainer took several years to develop but the intensive research has paid off and the company says its new product boasts all the functional benefits of its existing HDPE Polytainer, but with the added benefit that it breaks down to decompose completely. 
   • Fundraising leads to Namibia visit
     A funeral arranger from Scotland was able to visit to Namibia thanks to her hard work raising over £4,700 for charity.
     
     Marian Reid, a funeral arranger for The Co-operative Funeralcare in Sharon Street, Dalry, raised the money after being inspired by the widow of England’s World Cup-winning football captain Bobby Moore.
3. November 2011:
   • Ashes confusion restricts last wishes
     Families are holding onto their loved ones’ ashes because of restrictions and confusion on scattering cremated remains, according to a report from The Co-operative Funeralcare.
     
     Its survey of 3,000 people revealed that three in five would like to scatter a relative’s ashes at a special place or bury them under a memorial but rules, confusion over rules or environmental concerns prevent many from doing so.
   • Retaining monies received
 in advance could be illegal
     Staff at Golden Charter funeral plans have been surprised to discover how many funeral directors were unaware that they could be breaking the law by retaining money received in advance for funerals.
     
     A story, which appeared in SAIF's members’ magazine in May, highlighted a 2002 legal change that means cash received in advance for funerals has to be kept separately, but national sales manager Richard Auchincloss said it had come as a surprise to a significant number of funeral directors.
   • Sheep get factory tour
     Leeds-based textile mill Hainsworth celebrated the second anniversary of its launch of the Natural Legacy range of woollen coffins by hosting two four-legged visitors.
     
     The ovine duo toured the mill as a thank you for all the wool they and their British colleagues have supplied to make the wool coffins a success.
   • Two funeral staff and a wedding
     A couple who met while working at a Hook funeral home have tied the knot.
     Funeral director Rosalyn Wright and her driver/bearer husband Derek met at The Co-operative Funeralcare on Osborn Way in Hook, Hampshire.
     
     Derek joined The Co-operative Funeralcare in January 2008, a month before history graduate Rosalyn joined. They married on Sunday 28th August at St James’ Church in Finchampstead and will honeymoon in Dubai and the Maldives later this year.
     
4. Oct 2011:
   • Proud of support for the fallen
     The Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett has played its final part in the repatriation of fallen services personnel but the funeral director contracted to provide repatriation services says the town’s residents have much to be proud of.
     
     “They managed to grasp the feeling of the nation for these soldiers and expressed it on behalf of everyone,” said Barry Albin-Dyer, chairman of Albin International Repatriation, which is contracted to the Ministry of Defence.
   • First Resomator installed in US
     Resomation Ltd, the company behind the alkaline hydrolysis process Resomation, has installed its first commercial unit. It was unveiled at the Anderson-McQueen funeral home in St Petersburg, Florida, one of seven US states where Resomation has been legalised.
     
     The process, which works by dissolving the body in water and potassium hydroxide heated to a high temperature at a high pressure, is billed as a greener alternative to cremation.
   • Coffin’ up a comedy treat
     What does a funeral director do when funerals are in short supply? A more pertinent question could not be asked at the moment, given the year-on-year downturn in the number of deaths in the UK.
     
     But before FSJ readers swamp the editor with suggestions, the Village Idiots have the answer – as revealed in Coffin Up at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a production set to tour the UK in 2012.
   • Wool donations for tiny clothes and a dignified goodbye
     Staff at a funeral home in Worksop are collecting donations of wool for a charity so a network of volunteers can knit clothes for bereaved families who have lost a baby.
     
     Lisa’s Stars was set up by mum-of-two Lisa Davies. She had lost five babies and found that the only clothes available in the right size were for dolls.
5. Sept 2011:
   • Controversial issues raised
     Who’s watching the funeral directors? That was the question posed by Dr Kate Woodthorpe at the London Funeral Exhibition 2011 at Epping Forest Burial Park in July.
     
     Dr Woodthorpe, from the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath, was one of several speakers at the event, held in association with the British Institute of Funeral Directors, and designed to give the public inspiration, ideas and practical advice to make a funeral special.
   • Coming down to earth on funeral costs
     Quaker Social Action (QSA) has launched a scheme that helps people on low incomes plan the funeral they want for a lost loved one at a price they can afford.
     
     The scheme – called Down to Earth – brings together health professionals, religious leaders, solicitors, crematorium staff and funeral directors. Based in east London, it has trained 15 volunteer mentors, who have already helped nearly 40 families to save thousands of pounds in funeral costs.
   • Fingerprint charms can be memorial keepsakes
     A woman who makes solid silver charms that capture a loved one’s finger or handprint believes her work may be of interest to the funeral profession.
     
     Almost 99% of Hazel Sharp’s business to date has involved using prints from small children to create pretty family mementos of the living but she wants to extend this to older children and adults and to memorial jewellery for when someone dies.
   • Hammer falls on record bids
     A signed England rugby shirt in a frame and a weekend for two in a luxury hotel were among the lots that helped John Taylor Funeral Services of Warwickshire to a record-breaking total at a charity auction.
     
     For the fifth year, the team organised and ran the auction at the Myton Hospice summer fete, raising over £2,700 in the process, and smashing the totals of previous years.
6. June 2011:
   • Laid to rest at last
     A Bristol funeral firm has carried out an unusual funeral with historical period details for a young man convicted of murder and hanged 190 years ago.
     
     E.C.Alderwick and Son Ltd Funeral Directors in Hanham, Bristol, were asked by the family of John Horwood to lay him to rest, after they discovered his remains had been kept in a university cupboard.
     
   • East Devon Crem opens its doors
     The South West has a new crematorium, complete with a webcasting facility that gives family or friends who are unable to attend a funeral the opportunity to view the service.
     
     The East Devon Crematorium, located just off the old A30 at Strete Ralegh near Whimple in Devon, opened on 13 April, to serve the growing population of East Devon and West Dorset.
   • Musical memorials create lasting tribute
     A film composer is offering a new service – the opportunity to immortalise someone’s memory through music.
     
     Musical Memorials provides a way for someone to compose their own memorial to live on after their death, or for bereaved family and friends to create a memorial to a loved one.
   • Tara takes the plunge
     A Windsor and Maidenhead funeral director swapped funeral attire for a tracksuit and safety harness to take a charitable plunge.
     
     Tara McKay from The Co-operative Funeralcare in Dedworth Road, Windsor and High Street, Maidenhead, abseiled 100ft from the top of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, raising over £400 for the Neuro Intensive Care Ward in the process.
7. May 2011:
   • London’s cemeteries shaping up for the 21st century
     Shortage of graves, heritage, funding, cemetery management and archaeology were under discussion at a recent seminar on London cemeteries.
     
     Delegates heard about local authorities’ methods for reclaiming old graves to create burial space, as well as the key issues for cemetery managers, including lack of investment by cemetery owners and vandalism.
     
   • Resomation Q&A
     The Co-operative Funeralcare has gone public about its backing of Resomation as an alternative to burial and cremation.
     
     Such support from the UK’s largest funeral provider obviously has significant implications for the funeral industry so FSJ asked managing director George Tinning (GT) and Sandy Sullivan (SS), founder of Glasgow-based Resomation Ltd, for
     further details…
     
     
   • Bus hearse is proving popular
     A decommissioned double decker London bus is proving a hit as a hearse in the Nottingham area.
     
     Nigel Lymn Rose, managing director of A W Lymn, of Robin Hood Street, Nottingham, bought the bus in summer 2009, after a request from a terminally ill young man who wanted to pre-arrange his funeral with an unusual hearse.
     
   • Andrew lends a hand
     A funeral director from East Anglia has spent his holiday working in a Ugandan orphanage.
     
     Andrew Fairweather, who works at Rackham’s Funeral Services in Diss, spent two weeks at the Namugongo home, which was set up by his friend Kevin Hammond, chief executive of charity The Cogwheel Trust International, which provides homes for vulnerable children in India and Uganda.
     
8. April 2011 :
   • New government scheme means once is enough
     A programme is being rolled out across the UK that means bereaved people will only have to tell the government once that a loved one has died.
     
     It replaces the often complicated and time-consuming existing system whereby people may have to give the same information more than 40 times at what can be a very difficult and emotional period.
   • Resomation part of Co-op ethical strategy
     The Co-operative Funeralcare has launched an Ethical Strategy of environmental initiatives that includes a pledge to invest in Resomation as an alternative to burial or cremation.
     
     The support from the UK’s largest funeral director for the pioneering process, which breaks the body down chemically, would “signal the biggest change in the funeral industry since the Cremation Act of 1902”, according to Co-operative Funeralcare managing director George Tinning.
   • People are the focus of opening ceremony
     The people touched by the funeral profession were the focus at the opening of the HC Grimstead funeral home in Pinner, North London.
     The Revd Paul Hullyer, who conducted the service to bless the chapel, placed special emphasis on the bereaved and those who work in funeral service. His words came as part of an official open day and chapel dedication ceremony at the new premises.
   • Charity run for Childline
     A chauffeur/bearer from Shrewsbury has raced round the world-famous Silverstone track – but without a racing car.
     
     James Manders, who works for Pughs, took part in the Silverstone half marathon on Sunday, March 6 to raise funds for Childline and the NSPCC, to help children who need vital support and advice.
9. March 2011:
   • First report into UK funeral customs highlights major change
     Today’s funerals are much more likely to be a celebration of life than a mournful occasion, according to a new report.
     
     More than half of the population (54%) would rather have a celebratory send-off than a simple church service with hymns ...
   • Public receptive to crematorium heat capture measures
     The British public has reacted more favourably than expected to recent news of crematorium heat capture proposals.
   • West & Coe pick up community award
     West & Coe Funeral Directors have picked up a special Community Involvement accolade in London-wide business awards organised by a newspaper publisher.
   • 50 years’ service and still going strong
     Funeral director Ivan Fordham has completed an impressive 50 years’ service for the East of England Co-operative Society and is showing no signs of retiring. In fact, he’s still working full time.
     
     Ivan started at the Society’s funeral furnishing department in Ipswich as a tea boy aged 15 in April 1960.