Full Circle Funerals director creates Covid-19 support guide

Full Circle Funerals’ director, Sarah Jones, has gathered insight from over 60 industry professionals to create a care handbook.

It’s been a challenging year for many businesses, but those in the funeral sector have been forced to make substantial changes to the way they operate. Sarah decided to use her contacts to build up a bank of useful advice on providing support to people who are recently bereaved.

The funeral franchise’s most significant adaptation is its increased focus on care services, to support people who would otherwise be isolated. Sarah spoke about the response she received from the professionals she contacted for the open-access guide book:

“Almost every single person described how they all stepped up, they all adapted, recognised there was a bigger need and a broader need and they’d all tried to step up into that void to compensate for the lack of the usual infrastructure and support that people have.

“It’s about recognising they might have some really basic needs, they might be self-isolating and not have any food, and being more proactive with checking-in, make that slightly more human connection and give more practical support that normally people would have got from friends and family.”

During the pandemic, funeral providers have been forced to introduce various restrictions on attendees. People must wear face masks and stay socially distant, they cannot sing or touch the coffin, and services have become shorter to allow for extra cleaning time.

Sarah said,

“It’s been hard but everyone’s adapted really well and I think a lot of people feel like they have managed to create something which was helpful and which the person who has died would have been happy with.”

She added,

“We’re just trying to work hard to meet those restrictions with warmth and gentleness.”