Funeralsupportoffered atopen day

AN OPEN day offering advice on how to prepare for funerals is being held at a Hull crematorium this month.

Staff from Hull Council’s bereavement services department are hosting the event at Chanterlands Crematorium, in Chanterlands Avenue, on Sunday, September 26.

Bereavement services manager Nikki Hewitt said she hoped the “Dispelling the Myths” open day would give people some peace of mind when the time came to organise a loved one’s funeral.

“Losing a loved one is a sensitive and emotional time,” she said. “This open day will allow people to find out more about what happens when a loved one passes away, and about the organisations who can help them carry out the funeral service in a caring and compassionate way.”

Representatives of city funeral directors will be attending the event, as well as stonemasons, registrars and members of the local clergy.

A Church of England vicar, the Rev Stephen Whaley, and Methodist ministers Luke and Viv Smith will be among those taking part, alongside a humanist minister.

All will be happy to discuss any aspect of the process of arranging a funeral.

Members of the East Yorkshire Family History Society will also be on hand to show how the crematorium and its records can assist people in researching their family history.

Members of the public will have a chance to view burial records, and searches of cremation records can be conducted by members of staff.

The open day will run from 11am to 3pm.

The council’s newest cemetery is Priory Woods in Cottingham, which opened in May and was the first to be built by the council in nearly 100 years. It offers “natural burials” and has space for 13,000 interments.