Posted by Wendy Coulton
This week 200 people attended the first non religious funeral at Devonport Guildhall in Plymouth — see previous blog post here. The funeral ceremony was 35 minutes duration followed by a private committal service at the crematorium.
It absolutely reaffirmed my belief that the bereaved in the city should have more choice of venue where there was no limit on time, no one standing outside in the winter weather because space was an issue and where the ambience of a majestic historic building positively added to the experience.
Independent funeral directors Walter C Parsons should be congratulated for matching the needs of their client with this beautiful venue and Devonport Guildhall for having the foresight to agree to being a venue when I asked them earlier this year. Most importantly the family couldn’t speak highly enough about it.
Fantastic news Wendy – well done you for having the courage of your convictions. Six months from dreaming the dream to realising it is great going in a world in which little has changed in 200 years. The best news is that 200 people now know that this is a viable option – and at least some of them will tell their friends about it. The facility will blossom and everyone will benefit. We have seen a boom in alternative-venue funerals in the last two months, including this one http://stneotsfuneraldirectors.co.uk/category/funeral-director/ and I hope your vision of enabling these in the… Read more »
Thank you so much Andrew for your supportive comment.
As a result of someone seeing Devonport Guildhall promotion as a funeral venue I now have one to arrange at the city rugby ground next week so I am hopeful as you say that it will gain momentum. Couldn’t have done it without a forward thinking funeral director and venue.
This is really heartening, Wendy, good on yer. In my area (predominantly rural or semi-rural) we are just beginning to make headway with using village/community halls. Initial responses can include “what, the coffin? In here…?” but generally, so far, the response has been closer to “why ever not?” And the shrewder amoingst them also realise it’s a way to raise some cash. Not a lot, but every little bit helps. At one hall, about ten minutes from a woodland burial site, we have the ceremony, then close family nip off to the burial ground whilst people get the tea and… Read more »
Well done Wendy, can’t wait to use if.
Ru