New funeral service aims to help families struggling with costs

Richard Vines, who owns and runs Vines Funerals in Coseley, has developed two new funeral plans for people worried about the costs of funerals and who have gone for Direct Cremation, which is an unattended cremation with no service.

Mr Vines has set up the Everlasting Tribute and Serenity Tribute plans, which provide families with the oppportunity to have a small, intimate service at a crematorium or, if they can't or don't want to attend, the service can be recorded and the family can watch in the comfort of their own homes.

He said that the idea had come after speaking to families who had said that they liked the idea of a direct cremation, but wanted to have some kind of a service.

He said: "The feelings we were picking up from people were that they liked the idea of it, but were struggling with the idea of not being in the crematorium at the same time or being in with the coffin at the same time.

"They might be able to organise a memorial service, but it's not the same as being in with the coffin, so what we did was come up with the idea where maybe up to 15 to 20 people can be in the crematorium at the time.

"We'll book it at around 9.30pm at a crematorium of our choosing to keep the cost down for the family and if they don't go, either because they can't or they don't want to go, we will do a live webcast and also record the service and then present it to them on a DVD or USB stick."

The Everlasting Tribute service costs £2,000, which includes a 15 minute service, pallbearers and a hearse on the day, while the Serenity Tribute is £2,200 and allows for more flexibility around the start time of the service.

Mr Vines said he had also been moved by stories of people struggling to pay for funerals of family members and friends, such as a community in Stafford coming together to pay for the funeral of veteran Roger Southern and a daughter in Brownhills being left finding the funds to pay for her father's funeral after his funeral plan collapsed.

He said it was a way to help bring costs down and take away one of the issues around the death of a loved one.

He said: "A lot of people are struggling with the prices and there are stories out there that funerals are costing more than £4,000, which isn't true as it all comes down to what a family actually chooses for the funeral.

"With what we're doing, we're probably offering half of what people are paying while still offering the same quality and giving that family just a little bit more piece of mind if money is a tight thing for them.

"If they want a simple and respectful funeral, then we can provide that, but it's not going to affect the budget for them.

"We offer home-based funerals, so we will go into people's homes and discuss the funeral any time which is best for them and find a price to suit them, so everybody can be involved in the arrangement, and we've designed our packages specifically to give them piece of mind."

To find out more about the Everlasting and Serenity Tributes, go to vinesfunerals.co.uk/funeral-packages