Our enduring strength that caters for everyone

First Steps

There is no urgency to rush after someone dies; although the death will need to be certified by a doctor initially. We're here to listen and support you through those first steps at your own pace. You can call us on 01643 800335 (during office hours) or 07879-220046 when a occurs.

You will need to register the death within five days, you can contact us for advice about this or read our practical advice about registering the death.

Once certain paperwork has been completed, we can collect the person who has died, and bring them into our care, looking after them in our peaceful facilities until the day of the funeral.

How We Support You to Arrange a Funeral

We are here to provide you with any help and support you may need, from the preparations for the funeral, through to the event itself and the days and months that follow. We are happy to visit you in your own home to discuss arrangements, or if you prefer, we can talk in the comfort and privacy of our beautifully designed funeral home in Minehead. Alternatively we can talk over the phone or via a video call at a date and time that is convenient for you.

During what can be a very difficult time, you will have peace of mind knowing that we are always on hand for you, day or night.

Step One

We will talk through all the options and choices in a clear way to empower you to make the decisions right for you. For example traditional and natural burials, to attended or unattended cremations, to separate celebrations of life gatherings, to coffins and caskets, vehicles and officiant choices for example. We will talk about how to have lower cost funerals, eco-friendly options, and which crematoria, cemetery and alternative venues to choose.

We will talk things through with you thoroughly to make sure that you are comfortable with the plans, down to the smallest detail. If your loved one left behind specific requirements in a will or pre-paid funeral plan, then we will work with you to respect their wishes.

Step Two

We will then give you a quotation with estimate of the charges likely to be incurred on the basis of the information and details we know at the date of estimate. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the estimate, the charges are liable to alteration particularly where third parties change their rates or charges. We may not know the amount of third party charges in advance of the funeral, however, we will get you the best estimate of such charges on the written estimate. The actual amount of the charges will be detailed and shown in the final account.

We will also give you a copy of our terms and conditions (this can also be found here on our website) and we will ask you to carefully read them, as this will become our contract. If you have any questions about the content, then we will happily discuss them. Once you are happy, we ask that you sign those terms and conditions document. For our other policies and procedures, these can be found on our website, or ask us to print a copy for you.

We will also give you our information how we operate, and how we care for the person who has died, giving you reassurance they are safely looked after and with dignity and care.

Step Three

If you have appointed us to be your funeral director, we will arrange with you to collect your loved one. (see below).

We will raise an invoice for the crematorium or burial fees to be paid on booking (for attended funerals) or full amount (for unattended funerals).

Step Four

We will support you with as much advice as you want. For example:-

• Helping you to register the death once you have the medical certificate
• Collating the medical and legal certificates together with completing other documentation (which you will need to sign) and handing them to the relevant authorities/suppliers
• Choosing the right date, time and venue for the funeral including any religious or non-religious types of service
• Arranging announcements in local and national newspapers in memory of your loved one, and on our online dedicated page
• Discussing the ceremony structure and content, such as cortege routes, music, hymns, poems and readings, eulogy, visual tributes of photos or to have live streaming webcast, flower arrangements, donations to charity, ceremony accessories in memory of, funeral attire, what happens on the day of the funeral including the lead up, the funeral, and any funeral reception arrangements
• Liaising with all suppliers on your behalf
• Work with you to create a unique order of service
• We'll ask you if you want us to take a fingerprint of your loved one, in case you want a personal item such as jewellery with the imprint of their fingerprint in the future.
• You will be welcome to spend time with your loved one whilst in our care, in our light and welcoming space. This is your time so we can play music, light a candle or you could decorate the coffin if that feels right. You are welcome to support us to dress them, wash them; infact if you want to, for example, paint their nails, pop their favourite aftershave on them or tuck them in with their favourite blanket or item you are able to to do so, or we can do this on your behalf. We can also arrange to bring your loved one home or to a place of worship the night before, if you wish.

If you need support with paying for funeral costs, then we can guide you with the government grant or other funding which may be available to you. Our invoice for attended funerals will be due for payment 3 days before the funeral. Talk to us as soon as possible if you have concerns about payment.

Step Five

On the day of the funeral, Amanda-Louise Funeral Director will ensure everything we planned happens smoothly and seamlessly.

You will have chosen to start the funeral procession at our funeral home, or alternatively we can start the procession from a home address. Where no limousines have been required, some families like to meet our procession at the ceremony location. This will be decided during the arranging of your loved one’s funeral, and precise timings will be confirmed with you beforehand. Should you have family cars following the funeral service we will drive you to your chosen location and will be able to help you with any final questions.

The Funeral Ceremony is the culmination of the work that has taken place since the death occurred. Amanda-Louise will be in the attendance throughout the proceedings, to ensure the smooth running of events. We will take on the role of master of ceremonies, carrying out the task of guiding, directing and overseeing the funeral. As well as the Amanda-Louise as your Funeral Director, additional members of our staff will also be present. Our pallbearers (if requested) will be attired in smart clothing, and will ensure professional dignified attendance and supervision throughout the funeral. If you wish us to collect donation monies at the funeral in memory of your loved one, we will do this and pass on all those monies to your charity.

If you have opted to use our Funeral Home as a venue for your funeral reception, then we will ensure everything is in place, including any hospitality catering, as agreed and its for your exclusive use.

If you or any member of your family is unsure of what to do, tell Amanda-Louise - remember this is what we are here for, to help guide you through one of the hardest days of your life.

How We Support You After the Funeral

Following the funeral day, if your loved one was cremated, we will be in contact as soon as their ashes are safely back in our care (if you have consented for us to collect them on your behalf), from here we can advise you on next steps should you need it. For example if you wish us to hand deliver them to you, or you collect from our funeral home.

We can support you with:-

• Helping you choose one of our caskets, urns or scattering tubes, if you feel the box the crematoria supply is not adequate, and if you want to keep some ashes to place into jewellery or other loving memento
• Helping you organise a grave or resting place for cremated remains
• Providing memorials, ranging from headstones, grave markers to cremation plaques to park bench
• Organising a separate celebration of life memorial event, if that's important to you
• Introducing you to relevant specialists if you need help in an area in which we are not qualified or licensed to give advice, for example solicitors

We know there is no time limits on grief. We offer arrange of grief support from links to other organisations, our practical advice, and our support groups 'never on your own'. We can provide support to adults and children to come to terms with their loss. Talk to us at any time, our doors never close to you.

How We Care for your Loved One

Our focus is to provide dignity, care and respect always to the person who has died, and to ensure they are safe from harm.

Every person who has died that is entrusted into our care, we raise a client file which holds all the information we need to perform our role, and is our audit evidence to show we are compliant. Our records are kept in paper form, and we use an IT management software tool. We keep records for a minimum of 5 years. Only necessary people can access those records, and only necessary people can access our mortuary facilities. We track everything that we do in caring for your loved one, not only to ensure we attend to everything that has been planned but demonstrates our entire funeral processes.

When we collect your loved one, we will have asked questions beforehand about your deceased person, location of where they have died, and accessibility. Usually we convey someone into our care during office hours, but we can do this outside of those hours if requested. There will be two of us in attendance, and we have suitable equipment required. We will ask to ensure the appropriate steps have been taken ie verification of death, and that the person we collect is the person whom we are expecting. We will place an id on their wrist and ankle, which remains throughout. We ensure that your loved one is covered at all times, as this is law. Typically we use our private hearse vehicle to collect the person who has died. We will provide our acknowledgement document showing we now have responsibility and care of your loved one. We will go straight to our funeral home, and place them in our mortuary facilities, where they will stay until their funeral.

If you have opted for a cremation and your loved one has an electronic device inside their body, such as a pacemaker, Amanda-Louise can remove this as its a requirement of the crematoria.

Whilst we do not automatically embalm, if you have chosen for your loved one to have this, you will sign consent, we will ask a specialist to carry out this procedure.

If you wish us to change their clothing, we will do this, and carry out any wishes such as preparing them for their funeral. Whenever we are providing support to your loved one, we ensure that their dignity is respected. For example they are clothed, covered and use a modesty cloth or other suitable covering to cover the genitalia and other sensitive body areas of deceased people when they are being actively cared for.

They will be allocated a space in our mortuary which is appropriate to their size, and they will be placed onto a tray which will be clean and disinfected. We will use a headblock or pillow to support their head. If they have any jewellery or valuables with them, we record what they are, and they are securely stored.

Once their appropriately sized coffin has arrived, we will carefully place them into their coffin and ensure the name plate is affixed and the information is accurate (this is important when we reach the crematorium or cemetery as they will check this). We seal the lid of the coffin, and will transport the coffin to the funeral in the vehicle you have chosen. We can convey the coffin into the chapel via a trolley or carried by our pallbearers.

If the funeral is a cremation, once the cremated ashes are ready we will collect them on your behalf (if that is what you have asked us to do). We check that the ashes correlate with your loved one, and sign paperwork at the crematorium. We store the ashes in a locked cabinet, within a locked room in our funeral home. When we give you the cremated ashes, we ask you to sign our form to complete our audit trial of their journey.

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We hope this guide has been supportive. By sharing and listening our aim is to offer understanding and reassurance to those who have lost someone they cared for at a sad and difficult time.