Bristol Memorial Woodlands is now able to offer larger scale funeral services depending on the number of households involved.
Congregations of between 20 and 30 people can now be accommodated in the chapel and rooms at the woodland burial grounds near Alveston, just outside of Bristol, with careful planning to keep households separate.
In keeping with the guidance, which is under constant review, Bristol Memorial Woodlands has been able to arrange for the required spacing to be possible in its chapel. The funeral directors, working with each family, are able to ensure that social distancing between different households can be maintained during services while allowing the maximum number of people to attend.
Christopher Baker, who founded Bristol Memorial Woodlands, where a woodland nature reserve is being created with trees planted in memory of those buried there, said: “For some weeks now we have been restricted to a maximum of 10 people at a funeral but the relaxing of regulations and with planning over seating we can now accommodate between 20 and 30 people, depending on the households involved.
“Throughout the pandemic we have been offering people an opportunity to come back later in the year to have a memorial service after a small-scale burial service. The time is not yet right for us to start booking those services but we can offer some comfort to those organising a funeral now.
“It has been terribly distressing for families not being able to say goodbye properly to their loved ones. In many parts of the country there are still funerals taking place with nobody in attendance and with churches closed and many crematoria not permitting congregations to enter, others having restricted space and time slots, families need to find a place to grieve and say a proper goodbye.
“The great comfort that we can offer is that the woodlands will be here for all time, managed by our charitable trust, so people will be able to come back in the future, gather under the trees near their loved one, picnic and remember lives well lived.”
Bristol Memorial Woodlands contains dedicated Muslim and Jewish burial grounds and are also supporting those communities through the current restrictions.
More information on the new half day funerals can be obtained by calling Luke on 01454 414999 or Ella, at Westbury-on-Trym, on 0117 9504100. You may wish to email: admin@memorialwoodlands.com or admin@mwfuneraldirectors.com