Yes, of course. You are welcome to come and visit the Chapel of Rest at any time. All we ask is that you call us and advise us when you would like to visit so we can make sure a member of staff is on hand to help you.
Yes, please ask a member of staff for further advice.
When someone dies in England or Wales the death needs to be registered within 5 days at the register office for the County in which the death occurred, unless the Coroner is involved. You can go to a different office if it is more convenient, but the process, known as registration by declaration, will take a day or two longer because the registrar will need to forward your information to the original district, where the registrar will issue and send out the death certificate and other paperwork. Doing things this way may mean a slight delay to the funeral, since it is not possible for a burial or cremation to take place until after the registrar has issued the necessary paperwork. If the person has died in the hospital we will usually need registrar’s paperwork to allow us to bring your loved one back into our care.
You do not have to use any kind of officiant if you don’t want to. Families often ask if a member of their own family can officiate at the funeral (usually in the crematorium or at a graveside) to which we would say yes: however, it is a daunting task to be able to speak publicly, sometimes in front of a large amount of people and be able to keep a service flowing, include all the points needed, and often keeping to a timescale of around 20-25 minutes. We can recommend various celebrants from different organisations or, if appropriate, your local parish priest but if a family member or friend is confident they can officiate. We are more than happy to work with them.
Yes. If you have a special piece of music this can be played by the organist. Alternatively, most crematoriums have the facilities to play recorded music. Some of our local Churches will allow recorded music to be played, and we have a cd player that we are happy to take to the Church for you. However, we cannot take responsibility if recorded music does not play as planned.
Yes. If you would like us to handle the donations for you we will receipt each donor who supplies their address, and once the list has been closed (usually 3-4 weeks after the funeral) we will send a full list of those who contributed. We also send the donations to the charity and ask them to send a receipt directly to you.
No. Once a deceased person has been place in their coffin there is usually no need to remove them from it. There are very strict guidelines in place from the Home Office. No crematorium will allow a coffin to be opened and there is no facility and no requirement to do this at a crematorium or indeed a cemetery or churchyard.
No. This comes under the strict guidelines mentioned above. Coffin handles on a coffin that will be cremated are made of either plastic or some other combustible material, eg wood, so it is not necessary to remove them. For burial, handles can be made from plastic, wood or metal and again it is not necessary to remove handles as they actually aid the burial process.
A cremator can physically accept only one coffin at a time and all remains are removed before the unit can be used again. An identity card accompanies the coffin and cremated remains throughout the process until final disposal. The code of ethics and practical necessity are complementary and combine to ensure that the separation of cremated remains is achieved.
At Susan Whymark Funeral Service we are assured by the crematoriums we use that the cremated remains returned to us are those of your loved one. This process is witnessed by our staff on a regular basis. The process of cremation is thorough and meticulous in its administration and subsequent cremation. All documents and coffins are cross-referenced before cremation. No crematorium will accept a coffin where the nameplate does not match the name on their records.
Yes. However, it is preferably kept to a simple band with no stones at most. Most metals have a comparatively low melting point with that of the temperature of the cremator and what is retrieved afterwards would not necessarily be recognisable as metallic. Jewellery cannot be retrieved following a cremation.