A new state-of-the-art web streaming and audio-visual system has been installed at Bristol Memorial Woodlands that will enable friends and families to join funerals online from anywhere in the world.
The funeral venue, near Thornbury, Bristol, where a 100-acre natural woodland is being created, began live-streaming funerals during the Covid pandemic and have now installed the industry-standard Obitus system.
The Memorial Woodlands chapel in a converted Georgian Tannery building has been given a complete audio-visual upgrade. Families now have access to a wider database of music and hymns for the service using concert-grade equipment. There’s also a brand-new screen for visual tributes for family photographs and video.
This new sound system has been extended to the adjacent reception rooms, where there is also a second screen, providing for overflow congregations together with the facility to play music and “memory board” imagery appropriate to the life being celebrated whilst at the reception following any service.
Christopher Baker, founder of Bristol Memorial Woodlands, said: “It is not unusual now for people to have family members all over the country; in America and in Australia. Often it is difficult for them to get to a funeral at short notice.
“The Obitus system is used widely throughout the UK and by investing in this equipment we are enabling those who choose to have a burial here, or an interment of ashes or life celebration to help friends and family attend, even if they can’t make it in person.
“With this new system, they can also fully personalise their funeral, and have the music and visual input that they need to create a service that truly reflects their loved one.”
Sam Wood, Engineering Manager at Obitus, commented: “We understand that these days a CD player or a laptop just won’t cut it. The venue now has a concert-grade sound system, the ability to live stream and wide screens to create a funeral service as individual as the life lived.”