LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - At a time when more people are
dying but few can attend funerals, the job of an undertaker in
virus-hit Britain is difficult, stressful - and often creative.
Government guidance on funerals says the number of mourners
should be as small as possible during the pandemic, and limited
to family or close friends, hitting those who have lost loved
ones to COVID-19 or to other causes alike.
"For a lot of people, that is just a huge blow ... I think
there are some difficult realities for even the people who are
able to attend," said Poppy Mardall, founder of Poppy's
Funerals.
"Something like this, it's like disrupting a pond. It
creates ripples. And you didn't realise how much you needed what
you had... until you're not allowed to do it."
Mardall told Reuters she had been supporting families in
coming up with alternative arrangements for funerals during
Britain's lockdown.
Those include streaming ceremonies online, driving hearses
past the houses of those who cannot attend the service, and
hand-drawn pictures of flowers on the coffin, to replace the
real things in light of the closure of flower markets.
"We're having to come up with new rituals, or adapted
rituals. Ritual is ... arguably more important with the reality
of isolation that so many people who are grieving are still
having to face," she said.
Government advice is that funerals should not be delayed,
however difficult the circumstances of holding one in the
current circumstances may be.
Places of worship may be closed but small funerals can still
be held in a churchyard, or by a graveside or at a crematorium.
Mardall said many people were hoping to hold larger memorial
services in the future as a way of commemorating their loved
ones with more people.
But she said some people with low expectations had got a lot
out of the modified service.
"There's something about having an intimate gathering of ten
people - that it's not what you wanted but it gives you
something else," she said.
"Some people are getting an experience they wouldn't have
thought they wanted, but which they have really valued."
Funeral services group Dignity said on Monday that
families burying loved ones were opting for simpler services in
light of the restrictions.
That reflects a difficult time for workers in the funeral
sector too, as they have had to adapt their working practices to
the realities of lockdown while coping with increased demand for
their services and shortages of protective equipment.
Mardall estimated that at its peak in early May, Poppy's
Funerals was 30% busier than normal, though the company retained
excess capacity in mortuaries to cope with periods of high
demand.
There are daily check-ins with the team, who are working
from home where possible, and the firm has launched a blog,
talking-death.com, to encourage discussion about dying.
Mardall said there had been one week where the firm did not
have sufficient stocks of protective equipment, but the
situation had improved now.
"There are more people dying, so there's certainly pressure
on all those people who care for the dead... and this is an
infectious disease, so that makes people scared," she said.
"That strain on everybody is real."
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Hannah McKay; editing by
Stephen Addison)
