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Rosedale Funeral Home Halesworth
Address: Arcadia House, 19 Market Place, Halesworth, IP19 8BB
Phone: 01986 875588 Email: info@rosedalefuneralhome.co.uk Web: www.rosedalefuneralhome.co.uk
Funeral Director/s: The Rosedale Funeral Homes – there are six locally – are all owned by Anne Beckett-Allen and her husband Simon. Anne was born into the funeral business, worked for several of the big corporate outfits and now revels in the freedom of independence. She is intelligent, forward-looking and knows how to make a business tick. This is her focus. Simon is an electrician by trade and a builder of considerable talent and taste (each funeral home has its own beautiful grandfather clock). He has converted all of their funeral homes brilliantly. He is a funeral outsider, so he’s able to come at things from a client’s point of view. Both Anne and Simon are people of great heart. They have three children, support the Friends of Chernobyl and, every summer and Christmas, welcome a child from Belarus into their home. Anne is a keen triathlete, training for Ironman UK. Simon has a pilot’s licence and is presently building an aeroplane in the garage. Together, these two manage to attract remarkably high-calibre staff. Anne does not customarily conduct funerals but is always there for anyone who wants their funeral conducted by a female. The full time funeral directors at Halesworth are Dee Beseley and Alec Butcher. Dee nursed terminally ill patients in a hospice for a number of years. She now enjoys crosswords, music and gardening. Alec Butcher is a qualified funeral director with many years experience who used to live in the town and now lives in nearby Brooke. Alec is a keen motorbike enthusist, and its usually his Harley that takes him on holiday. He loves a challenge and is not averse to climbing mountains or endurance canoeing for charity. Premises warm and homely. “We love the name of the premises as Arcadia means a place offering peace and simplicity.” The chapel of rest is home to a beautiful infinity candle and there is a lovely atmosphere throughout the premises. Upstairs, there is a meeting room which “we make available to various community groups, as well as storing shoeboxes for the Christmas Shoebox appeal which we support.”
Specific Gravity: Formal but not Victorian – because most people hereabouts don’t want the top hat and cane look. They can do that for you if you like, and they will also gladly dress down. Very nice fleet of cars – Mercedes. Lots of alternatives to the standard hearse – you can see them all on their website.
What’s important? Anne is a senior tutor at the British Institute of Funeral Directors and places a high emphasis on excellent basic training topped up by continuing professional development. Everyone who works at Rosedale is really good at what they do. They are all, also, very nice people. They think hard about what they do and how they do it. You are not just another client here – anything but. They gladly give you all the time you need. They listen well and respond intelligently. Above all, they work with you.
What’s different? Anne has experience of the corporate sector and now revels in the freedom to offer you a degree of personal service which the big chains of undertakers, with their stifling systems and procedures, simply cannot. “We can basically offer anything and everything.” The first funeral director in the UK to offer a carbon neutral funeral and a specialist in eco-firendly funerals. Can offer you a range of bereavement resources, including their own bereavement counsellor. Anne and Simon are “passionate about involving children in the funeral arrangements.” Lots of really good books which explain death to children and help them take in what has happened. Anne does outreach work in local schools, too. They will give you a book, When We Remember, which is full of really good suggestions for the funeral ceremony.
Services: Your call will most likely be answered by, during the day, Dee or Alec. At night time it could be Anne, Derrick or Richard, or a member of staff from one of our other branches. Whichever funeral director you meet when you arrive will be there for you from start to finish, holidays and sickness permitting. Yes to a home visit. Yes to you coming in and laying out and dressing the person who has died. No embalming here as a matter of course, though they will discuss it with you if circumstances make it advisable – if there is a long time til the funeral, for example. Will gladly work with those who wish to care for their dead at home: see the Do It All Yourself section of the Good Funeral Guide website. Same-sex funeral director to lay out the person who has died if you wish. Excellent celebrants on their books. Superb and informative website.
Remarks: Outstandingly well run, highly professional but, top of the list, you’ll find here an exceptional focus on people. Quiet, kind, capable and utterly sincere. Good value for money, too.
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