Coping with bereavement: These funeral directors are here to help

(Image: Cornwall Hospice Care)

Cornwall Hospice Care provide a range of free bereavement services across Cornwall. These services are for all adults across the county not just for those that have lost their loved ones at their hospices. 

They offer:

• Bereavement Help Points - These are a monthly drop-in space for anyone who has been bereaved. These relaxed and supportive groups are a welcoming environment for conversations, peer support, signposting and refreshments.
• Walk Talk Kernow - Each Walk Talk Kernow session supports social connections with others who are also experiencing grief, whilst you enjoy the fresh air and nature around you. These one-to-two-mile walks take place in different locations across Cornwall.
• Listening Ear Service - This Bereavement Support by telephone is not a counselling service, we are able to offer free information, support and signposting via the telephone for six calls of up to an hour each.

Visit the Cornwall Hospice Care website for dates and locations for Help Points and Walk Talk Kernow. 

You can self-refer for the Listening Ear Service– call on 01726 829874 or email communityservices@cornwallhospice.co.uk – one of the Cornwall Hospice Care team will answer your call or email to find out more about you and ensure this is the right service for you and work with you to arrange the support calls at a time to suit you."

Wedlake Funeral Home

(Image: Wedlake Funeral Home)

A traditional funeral home, based in Mid Cornwall; since Fitzroy Wedlake set up the funeral business in 1921 it has offered all the traditional services of a funeral director, burials, cremations, hearse, limousines, horse drawn hearse, alternative coffins, anything to help bereaved families. This includes the recent desire for Direct Cremations, where there are no mourners present or service. At £995, which is less than 25% of the average cost of a funeral in England, includes the cost of cremation, a wooden coffin and our professional fees.

A Direct Cremation costing £995 is for those who would like a simpler choice for their funeral without compromising on high standards of care. Brought to the public’s attention by both David Bowie, novelist Anita Brookner and a large TV campaign by a national provider. A Direct Cremation differs from a traditional funeral in the way that there are no mourners present at the cremation. The popularity partially stems from more people opting for celebratory gatherings, rather than a more traditional funeral service.

Caution should be taken when using a national company for what is one of the most important things you will ever do for your loved one. Families find themselves dealing with someone over the phone, rather than being able to sit in your own home having a face-to-face meeting with a genuinely local professional funeral director. Both Nick and David will spend as long with you as it takes to take you through what is already an incredibly upsetting process.

What most national chains also omit from their advertising is that their cremations do not necessarily happen locally, with some transporting the deceased from their home in Cornwall as far afield as Andover in Hampshire.

Your loved one will rest in our purpose-built Chapel of Rest, in Mid Cornwall until the day of the cremation. When unlike many other funeral directors, the deceased person is transported to a Crematorium in Cornwall in our hearse, with one of our funeral directors. On arrival at the crematorium, your loved one’s coffin will be rested on the catafalque while gentle music is played. We bow respectfully as the curtains close. After the cremation we collect the ashes from the crematorium and arrange to return them to you.

Wedlake Funeral Home have been looking after families in Cornwall since 1921 and in that time have embraced the changing nature of funerals. We still continue to offer the whole variety of bespoke funerals, if your wish is to make that final journey in a motorbike hearse, a horsedrawn hearse or even a VW campervan hearse, we will arrange it. If you wish to have a wicker coffin, a picture coffin, or an American casket, just ask and we will sort it. Since 2018 Wedlake Funeral Home’s clients have been looked after by Nick Jago and David Michael who are offering all their services to people right across Cornwall.

For many who choose a Direct Cremation the decision is not driven by price. For many not including a service, it gives families the chance to remember their loved one in their own way at a location of their choosing. Whether that be through a memorial service, a family get together or scattering the ashes at a place they loved. David and Nick can be contacted at Wedlake Funeral Home 24 hours a day on 01726 850216.

Penryn and Falmouth Funeral Directors

(Image: Penryn and Falmouth Funeral Directors) We have been serving the people of Penryn, Falmouth and the surrounding areas for over 20 years.

Every life is unique, and so therefore, our approach is that every funeral should be bespoke.

We love working with people to deliver the perfect send off for their loved ones ensuring that everyone has the same level of care and dignity throughout. The funeral industry has changed greatly over the years, as a modern company we have adapted to suit people’s needs. We truly love the diversity of funeral styles and are well equipped to carry out them all.

Meet the team:

Robin Hattswell-Burt formed the company as he wanted to be able to give more to families (having previously worked for a national firm). Robin is known to many through his association and love of classic vehicles, he loves chatting with people and hearing about their own individual stories.

Daniel Shermon joined the company in 2016 and is one of our funeral directors. Daniel grew up in Mylor Bridge and has followed in the footsteps of his late grandfather who worked for the local Undertaker ‘Stowell Andrew’. Daniel will be known to many during his years as an organist in the area, playing for many happy (& sad) family occasions. Daniel has been known to dress as Batman on a cold winter’s day for a funeral! During the winter months he can be found tickling the ivories for Flushing Village Pantomime.

In 2022 we welcomed Ken Rogers into our fold, Ken has worked across the care sector for many years in a hands on and managerial context. Ken a Falmouth man works alongside Daniel as a funeral director. Like Robin, he too has a passion for classic vehicles and can often be spotted at rallies in his downtime.

We are supported in our office by two lovely ladies, Tracy Sawyer and Linda Clay, they help in many ways supporting the daily needs of the business and the families in our care, they will often be the first voice you hear when calling us.

We feel it an enormous privilege to serve our community in the work that we do. We are always happy to have informal chats about any of the work we undertake, from funerals to memorial masonry or funeral plans. Please don’t hesitate to contact us regarding your funeral needs.