UK Funerals and Memorials Online – Information for Funeral Directors

How Celebrants can help with funerals and memorial ceremonies in the time of Coronavirus

During the pandemic, celebrants will be doing all that they can to offer you the best service available in the circumstances if you are planning a funeral ceremony.

At this time we are all uncertain how things will progress. Considering the government’s recommendation for social distancing as of mid March and looking ahead to other possible scenarios over the coming weeks, celebrants can offer a modified approach to the standard funeral ceremony which will serve to protect bereaved people, the celebrant and all those who come into contact with any of us.

If people would like a funeral ceremony to take place you might like to suggest modified ceremony options as follows.

Whilst funeral gatherings may still take place with a handful of people present:

1) We can use available webcast facilities to broadcast the ceremony to family and friends who have stayed at home
2) You can have the ceremony lead by your celebrant in the ceremony venue but all watch remotely by webcast

A celebrant can also offer your clients/families a service online by:
1) Conducting a funeral service remotely by using video conferencing in real time. This would be hosted by the celebrant and enable family and friends to contribute
2) Pre-Recording the ceremony on video and audio and providing that to the client/family for dissemination at their discretion
3) Advising and guiding bereaved people, who wish to create and facilitate their own ceremony in their own way, through the process remotely.
4) Offering individual person-centered ceremonies remotely as requested
5) Beginninng to plan a memorial for a future date when it is once again possible to gather everyone together in person

Each celebrant has their own unique skill set, however many good celebrants will be able to facilitate these remote ceremonies and adapt, within appropriate parameters, to the needs of those people bereaved.

Here is a blogpost that you may find useful to share with your clients and families: 8 Things You Can Do To Support Each Other Online When Someone Has Died – including how to begin to plan a Celebration of Life memorial

Please ask your celebrant what they are charging for their online service, and what they will charge to do an online funeral now and a memorial later. Be prepared to give clients/families a range of price options and let them choose the celebrant who suits them best.

Celebrants have been advised by the Funeral Celebrancy Council that best practice at this time is to practice social distancing of approximately 2 meters, to refuse hand-shaking and hugging, and to conduct all pre-funeral meetings remotely. This is for everyone’s safety and in accordance with what we feel is our social responsibility to ‘flatten the curve’. Click here for Guidelines for Funeral Celebrants in Response to Coronavirus

If a ceremony gathering is going ahead, please consider the cancellation of any wake or reception planned after the ceremony at this time as it is unrealistic to ask bereaved people to observe social distancing. As mentioned above, you can ask the celebrant to assist in a Celebration of Life or Memorial once the pandemic has passed its peak and we are once again able to gather a larger number of people together, to reminisce and celebrate a life.

You can find a celebrant offering online funeral and memorial ceremonies at ukfunerals.online or you may find your local celebrants can offer this service.

Funeral Celebrants working online who would like to be listed , please go here

We Have Adopted The Accord. Emma is proud to have been a part of the development of the Funeral Celebrant Accord as a representative on the Funeral Celebrancy Council. She is the council’s representative of Independent Celebrants.