A GOVAN funeral director is urging families not to delay funerals following the First Minister’s announcement that rules for memorial services “remain sadly unchanged”.

Caledonia Cremation – which is owned by anti-poverty charity Community Renewal Trust - exclusively provide direct cremation to bereaved families across Scotland meaning no mourners are present.

Since social distancing began, the funeral director has reported a rise in enquiries from people exploring safe ways to say goodbye to their loved ones.

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The company’s co-founder John Halliday is asking families to reconsider delaying.

Mr Halliday said: “With speculation that gatherings will be banned for some time, we predict these restrictions will stay in place for some time.

“We have certainly had more enquiries from people who do not want to delay their goodbyes and are exploring the options that are available now. We expect those enquiries to continue for the foreseeable future"

Linda Hillidge, who lives in South Africa, recently lost her mother, who lived in Scotland. As the airports in South Africa were closed, Linda was unable to fly to Scotland. After some deliberation, she decided direct cremation was the right thing to do.

She explained: “When I first heard of the concept of direct cremation, I was not a believer and felt I could not go down this route. However, after much more thought on the logistics of how one can make this happen remotely, it became the only and best option for us.

“The whole experience was sad, which is to be expected, and quite surreal, and as a family we decided to have our own intimate Celebration of Life for mum who was so loved throughout her life. When this fateful day arrives, it catches you off guard even though mum had a long, healthy life for most of her time with us.”

As is normal with direct cremation, Linda still arranged a celebration, just not at the crematorium.

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“We utilised a very simple format using Zoom to include the family members” she added. “My daughter and I had prepared some words to reflect on mum’s life and all the wonderful memories we had and will forever cherish.

“We had intermittent music, some songs which mum actually sang over the years as she loved singing, she was always nominated at the family get togethers. To have final closure we will fly to Scotland when the lockdown is over.”

For more information visit caldoniacremation.org.uk or call 3000 113 311.