Gateway Funeral Services: Making a time and a place to talk
It strives to help them through a difficult time – but what happens when this period is over?
For many people, it is the weeks and months after the funeral which are the hardest to come to terms with, as life gets back to anything but ‘normal’ and the loss hits home.
In recognition of this, Gateway will shortly be launching weekly groups where bereaved people can get together to focus on their well-being and seek to ease their loneliness.
One will be held at Batley Parish Church, while a second one is planned for Birkenshaw, subject to final confirmation of the venue.
Gateway Funerals’ Lucy Hitchcock said: “Very often we have people through our doors who have lost loved ones and suddenly find themselves very lonely once the busy period around the funeral is over.
“We thought it would be so nice if we could signpost people to a weekly group to share experiences, feel included in a community and forge new friendships.
“The response to the idea so far has been very heartening and we are really looking forward to seeing how the groups go.”
Among the possibilities might be to have a topic for discussion each week, to be chosen by the group members, while Lucy and her colleagues have lots of ideas for bringing in guests to advise people on coping with their varying situations and signposting them to other sources of help.
“We might approach local schools to come and sing for us, we could bring in therapy dogs – there are all kinds of possibilities we can explore,” added Lucy.
To find out more about this and other services offered by this family company, visit www.gatewayfunerals.co.uk or telephone 0800 007 6842.
Gateway now offers the option of a ‘celebration of life’ service, held in its chapel at Birkenshaw, in advance of the cremation, conducted by a funeral celebrant.
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LINKS:
Website: gatewayfunerals.co.uk
Facebook: facebook.com/GatewayFuneralServices