Arranging a Funeral

The Ceremony Hall/Chapel

Arranging a Funeral

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The First Steps to Arranging a Funeral

● You will need to obtain a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) signed by a doctor - if the death occurred in hospital, a doctor there will issue it - if the death happens at home, you will need to call your doctor to issue this certificate. If the coroner is involved, please take advice from the coroner’s officer. (An inquest may need to be held and a post-mortem may be required).

● You will need to register the death (within 5 days) at a registry office local to the place of death. You will need to take the MCCD with you. You will be given a Certificate for Burial or Cremation (“the green”), to pass to the funeral director (if being used) or you can deliver it directly to the crematorium.

● To obtain a death certificate, issued by the registrar, which is a certified copy of the entry in the Birth, Deaths and Marriages Register, which you will need as evidence of the death for any will, pension claims etc.

● To check if your loved one has made a will. This will have instruction of what to do in the event of their death and may have instructions about an executor.

● To decide whether you want to use a funeral director, if you contact your chosen funeral director, they will act on your behalf for your loved one to be brought into their care. They will make all funeral arrangements on your behalf.

● If you decide not to use a funeral director, the crematorium team are there to support you through arranging a funeral. Please contact us directly.

● A cremation cannot go ahead until a cause of death is ascertained. The below must be completed.

1. Cremation Form 1 - Application for Cremation of the Body of a person who has died, signed by next of kin or an Executor.

2. Cremation Form 4 - Medical Certificate, signed by the doctor who was caring for the deceased at the time of their death - you will have to pay for this to be completed (unless the death is referred to a Coroner).

3. Cremation Form 5 - Confirmatory Medical Certificate, signed by a different doctor to confirm cause of death (not required if a hospital postmortem occurred) – you will have to pay for this to be completed (unless the death is referred to a Coroner).

This is not required at present due to the government guidance of arranging a funeral during the pandemic.

4. Cremation Form 6 – Certificate of Coroner - Replaces Forms 4 and 5.

5. Certificate for Burial or Cremation “The Green” - issued by the Registrar (not needed if Cremation Form 6 has been issued). -

6. Cremation Form 10 - Authorisation of Cremation of Deceased Person by Medical Referee - signed by a Medical Referee (Doctor) at the Crematorium.

Funeral Arrangements

At Nene Valley Crematorium we recognise that funerals are deeply emotional, personal events, and therefore the importance of ensuring your wishes are right, and right first time, is at the forefront of our minds.

The choice of a firm of funeral directors is important, as you should feel comfortable and confident with them. They could be:

● Known to you personally.

● Recommended by a friend.

● A recommendation from a GP or religious advisor.

● Hold a good reputation in your area.

There are a number of local funeral directors available at Yellow Pages, alternatively you may wish to contact the following organisations for advice:

● The National Association of Funeral Directors.

● Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors.

Your funeral director can make all the arrangements for the funeral, be it a burial or cremation, and religious or secular service. The funeral director can also give advice on all the procedures and documents needed to register the death.

It is important to choose the how to remember your loved one and there are many different options.

These are listed below - click on each to see more information

Independently Arranged Funerals

Non-Religious Services

Non-Christian an Minority Group Funerals

Ceremony Hall/Chapel - Ceremonies, funerals and remembrance

Personalising a Service

Independently Arranged Funerals

You may feel that passing the body of a loved one over to strangers is wrong, others may feel that personally organising a funeral is their final tribute to the deceased person.

You may simply wish to save money by doing everything yourself or you may have used a funeral director on a previous occasion and found the experience unsatisfactory.

You - the bereaved family and/or friends - can organise the entire funeral yourself. Such a funeral can be referred as a ‘Personalised’, ‘Independent’ or ‘Private’ service.

Consequently, the funeral arranger uses their own vehicles or alternative suitable transport in lieu of a hearse.

● It is your right to organise a funeral without the use of a funeral director.

● It is your right, as executor (or next of kin) to be given the body by a mortuary, hospital, etc., in order to carry out a funeral without a funeral director.

● It is your right to obtain information on how to obtain a biodegradable coffin.

● Staff at Nene Valley Crematorium are available for support and guidance on how to arrange this.

● You may be entitled to financial help towards funeral costs – please visit https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments.

Non-Religious Services

There is no requirement to have a religious funeral ceremony, or any kind of ceremony at all at a funeral. People that regard religion to be unimportant or have decided to live their lives without it, may prefer a Humanist or Civil Ceremony.

British Humanist Association offers advice on all aspects of humanist ceremonies and produces the booklet ‘Funerals Without God’ – A Practical Guide to Non-Religious funerals. Celebrants are trained professionals who can officiate at funerals, weddings,

naming ceremonies or any other rite of passage. For more information on celebrancy please visit The International Federation of Celebrants.

Civil Funeral is a funeral driven by the wishes, beliefs and values of the deceased and their family, not by the beliefs or ideology of the person conducting the funeral. It sits between a religious service and a humanist funeral. The Institute of Civil Funerals (IoCF)

was established to promote the quality of Civil Funeral ceremonies in the UK, through the professional development of celebrants and the ongoing monitoring and regulation of their work in delivering Civil Funeral ceremonies.

If you do not want a ceremony at all, members of the family or friends can attend the committal, (generally known as a No-Service funeral) which can be in silence or with some music being played.

Non-Church of England Funerals If you have to arrange a funeral for someone who is of a faith different to your own, it is important to contact the equivalent of the local priest of the denomination to find out what needs to be done.

Non-Christian and Minority Group Funerals

Islam – Most Islamic communities appoint one person to be responsible for making funeral arrangements. It is that person’s responsibility to advise on the rules and to select a suitable funeral director.

Hinduism – Hindus are always cremated, and never buried. There are many possible variations of rites, which depend on their form of Hinduism. The Asian Funeral Service can give advice on and arrange Hindu funerals. For information contact: 020 8909 3737 or email: asianfuneralservice@btinternet.com

Judaism – Jewish funerals are usually arranged by a dedicated Jewish Funeral Agency, or the local community may have a contact with a Gentile funeral service. Any service arranged will be carried out under strict rabbinical control.

The Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service offers support and can be contacted on: 020 8349 0839.

Ceremony Hall / Chapel

Our multi-denominational Ceremony Hall/Chapel seats 145 people with approximate room for 50 standing. There is a media system which can play music, hymns (including organ only), plus visual tributes and allows live stream webcasting of services for those who are unable to attend a service.

There is an induction loop system for hearing impaired people and the building is on one level giving easy access for wheelchairs and those with limited mobility.

We are available to hold services on any day of the week at any time upon request. Our core service times are 10am-3pm and out of core service times are 8am, 9am and 4pm to 6pm. All our services are 40 minutes duration programmed on the hour, allowing time for people to feel unrushed when paying their final respects in a quiet, tranquil setting.

Visual Tribute

Choose your own music, photo and video footage for our media company to transport all into a memorable visual tribute, to be played on the screen during the ceremony.

This can be purchased on a memory stick for you to keep as a lasting memory of your loved one’s funeral. You may like to have a single holding image on the screen throughout the ceremony.

We now have 2 screens on either side of chapel. – USB/DVD or downloadable link.

Webcasting

For various reasons, not everyone who would like to attend a funeral, can. With a webcast you can share the secure log in with people of your choosing to enable them to watch the ceremony on their own device in real time. The webcast of the ceremony is

available to watch with the option upgrade to be able to view this for up to 28 days after the funeral including a downloadable link. Similarly, this can be purchase on a memory stick.

Organ

An organ is available for use by your chosen organist, to be arranged by you or your funeral director.

Above: View of the valley from floral tribute and inside the Ceremony Hall/Chapel

Personalising a Service

There are many ways a service can be personalised.

Sunset/Sunrise or Weekend Services

By request, services can be held at any time of the day or evening, 365 days of the year.

Music

All music is played through our media system that we have invested in to provide any music of your choice.

You are welcome to bring your musical instruments to play – subject to item being deemed safe via a Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) process, if electric power is required.

If a piper leads the cortège down to the entrance doors, the piper is welcome to play into the Ceremony Hall/Chapel.

Pets

Your family pets are very special, and many people ask to have them in attendance for the service. This can be accommodated.

Dove/Butterfly Release

When you exit the Ceremony Hall/Chapel to congregate at the floral tribute area, some people wish to organise doves or butterflies to be released. This can be accommodated.

Display Items

Various personal items can be displayed in the Ceremony Hall/Chapel during the service to reflect the deceased’s character and/or “favourite things”, to include their hobbies. This could be candles/pictures to special items typical of your loved one that will bring back memories… i.e. hats, shoes and sporting memorabilia to name a few.