Pure Cremation | Media and Press

Pure Cremation Sponsors Dying Matters Launch Event

It is the first time that the leading provider of direct cremations in the UK has sponsored this event, organised by Dying Matters which is part of Hospice UK and campaigns to encourage people to break this last taboo and talk openly about dying, death and bereavement.

The event will be attended by around 100 representatives from the NHS, faith groups, the hospice movement, the Care Quality Commission and the Cremation Society of Great Britain.

Members of the public will also be there to get inspiration and advice on how to organise an event of their own to bring this challenging subject out into the open during Dying Matters Awareness Week planned for 14th – 20th May 2018.

Speakers will include author Kevin Toolis, whose book ‘My Father’s Wake’ was published last year, Gary Rycroft, chair of the Dying Matters Forum, Tracey Bleakley, Chief Executive of Hospice UK and Linda Magistris, CEO of The Good Grief Trust.

Catherine Powell, Customer Experience Director of Pure Cremation, said: “Our British reserve gets in the way of talking about how we want to spend our last days, what matters to us, and how we want to be remembered. Times have changed, and funerals are changing too, so it’s more important than ever to get this conversation going.

“In the absence of clear requests, grieving families go into “autopilot” and rely on the local undertaker to guide them through a traditional funeral, mainly because they’re in no state to research all of the options. The result may be an unsuitable funeral that costs more than the deceased would have wanted them to spend.

“Only one in four of us tell our families in advance what sort of funeral we would like to have, which is a great pity because chatting things through with loved ones can bring families closer together and ends confusion.

“Many people tell us that they want a celebration of life event at a favourite beauty spot, others reject the fuss and bother of a traditional send-off, but all are determined to remove uncertainty, prevent overspending and reduce distress.

“Having a conversation about your “goodbye” can be a very positive experience and Dying Matters Awareness Week is the biggest campaign in the UK, encouraging communities across the country to come up with their own events to get people talking about the only thing we can all count on.”
Events last year were diverse, ranging from coffee mornings and talks about palliative care to tours of crematoria and included some very public invitations to people to think about their mortality.

In Lincoln shoppers were invited to chalk up their ‘bucket list’ of things they’d like to do before they died, while the West Yorkshire town of Todmorden held 70 events in its ‘Pushing up the Daisies Festival’ which ended with a Firey Folky Funeral Feast.

Pure Cremation is the UK’s only dedicated provider of direct cremation – the no-fuss alternative to a traditional funeral. A direct cremation is a low-key affair in which the deceased person is collected and cared for before a cremation without any funeral service. The ashes are then returned to the family who can arrange their own farewells at a later date if they so wish.

Growing in popularity, direct cremations now account for in the region of seven per cent of all cremations in the UK. They appeal to people for a wide variety of reasons – some don’t like funerals, full stop, others don’t want to have a religious or formal ceremony. Some appreciate the freedom to arrange a very personalised farewell on a separate occasion, for others the sheer simplicity of the concept is attractive.

Catherine explained: “Families hold all sorts of commemorations after a direct cremation – be it scattering ashes in a favourite woodland, a thanksgiving service in the local church or lighting candles around the globe to join a scattered family together.

“Whatever their reasons, more people are choosing direct cremations for themselves, particularly after experiencing the direct cremation of a friend or relative.”

The Dying Matters In Your Community Launch Event is being held at Woburn House Conference Centre, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HQ, on 6 February 2018 and is fully booked.

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Fresh approach to funerals needed, claims Pure Cremation, as report highlights wildly varying cremation costs across UK

The most expensive cremation venue is Angus in Scotland at £1,070 and the cheapest is Morden in Surrey at £274 – depending on a variety of factors.

Now Pure Cremation, one of the UK’s leading specialists in direct cremation, is calling for a fresh look at the purpose of a funeral, whether the traditional formula delivers what families need and how the bereaved can give their loved ones a fitting send-off without getting into debt.

Catherine Powell, Director of Customer Experience at Pure Cremation, said: “This report shows that what we actually need is a completely fresh approach to funerals – one that suits the beliefs and budgets of today’s families.

“Pure Cremation has seen rapid growth in demand for their service as people discover that separating the cremation from the farewell is liberating, more personal and creates big savings.”

The company hopes to do for funerals what EasyJet and Airbnb have done for holidays – putting the consumer in charge, letting them decide what matters to them and what they’re prepared to spend.

A direct cremation is an alternative to a traditional funeral where the body is collected and cremated without a funeral service at the crematorium, leaving a family free to decide how, where and when to say goodbye.

While traditional burials or cremations are often formal and follow a rigid formula, a direct cremation changes the dynamic by allowing families to go straight to the most meaningful part of the process – the wake.

Separating the two parts of the funeral gives families time, and a new level of freedom, to plan a more personal send-off at a time and location that suits them.

Offering the same price for a cremation across the whole of England and Wales is just one of the ways Pure Cremation has begun transforming the funeral sector and started widening consumer choice.

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NHS organ donation vote shows why we MUST have end-of-life talk with our loved ones

Around 1,100 families denied consent last year – many because they were unsure of their deceased relatives’ wishes.

Now the man behind a direct cremation company shaking up the funeral industry is urging families to wake up to the importance of making their end-of-life plans known to loved ones.

Bryan Powell, who set up Pure Cremation with his wife Catherine, said: “When it comes to the uncomfortable subject of death we often don’t know how to get the conversation started.
“More than two-thirds of us (67 per cent) say it’s incredibly important that our final wishes are carried out after we die.

“Yet only a quarter of us tell our family about our wishes about organ donation consent and preferred funeral arrangements.

“Confusion over these things can lead to uncertainty, family tension and even spark feuds at the worst possible time.

“The changes to organ donation consent highlight the importance of expressing your wishes before you go – giving more families the confidence they’re doing the right thing when the time comes.”
Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn both backed the change in the law.
Four in five people say they would donate their organs but less than half that number have registered.

A direct cremation is an alternative to a traditional funeral where the body is collected and cremated in the days immediately following the death, without a funeral service at the crematorium.

While traditional burials or cremations are often formal and follow a rigid formula, a direct cremation changes the dynamic by allowing families to go straight to the most meaningful bit – the wake.

Now families can take control, and take all the time they need to plan a more personal send-off when and where is right for them.

By ripping up the rulebook and taking a completely fresh approach, Pure Cremation is already beginning to transform the funeral sector.

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