CO-OP FUNERALCARE ASKS PEOPLE TO 'BOW HEADS AND DOFF CAPS' TO HELP BEREAVED FAMILIES UNABLE TO MOURN PROPERLY DURING LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS

ATHERSTONE residents have been asked to help bereaved families come to terms with funeral access restrictions during the coronavirus crisis by reviving some time-honoured traditions once part and parcel of everyday life.

Britain more than half a century ago enjoyed a slower pace of life where people were able to "pay their respects" to those who passed away – even if they were a complete stranger.

Now Central England Co-op Funeralcare is asking the public to turn back the clock to help relatives and friends of the deceased in 2020 who cannot be mourned properly because of social distancing restrictions associated with the virus.

Covid-19 lockdown has deprived families of the chance to say a proper farewell to their loved ones because of limits on numbers permitted to attend funeral services.

The Co-op undertakers has issued a plea for local people to come together and help those who have lost someone close to them at this time.

They are asking people, if they see a hearse while they are in their front garden or out for their daily exercise, to stop and bow their head in a show of respect and to support families.

Another gesture from a bygone age is doffing or tipping your cap as an act of reverence for the departed. Some would remove their hats altogether as a mark of respect

Zaheer Iqbal, funeral director at Central England Co-op Funeralcare, said: "We are working 24 hours a day to support families at their time of need, but changes have had to be put in place following advice and guidance from the Government to protect everyone.

"These are circumstances that none of us could have imagined, but it continues to be our privilege to support families at this most difficult time.

"This is why we are asking people wherever they are to bow their head in a show of respect for funerals passing by and in support of families."

The moves by the Co-op come as today Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced "wherever possible" people will be given the "chance to say goodbye" to loved ones dying with Covid-19, after reports of the elderly dying alone in care homes and some hospitals banning all visitors.

He said "wanting to be with someone you love at the end of their life is one of the deepest human instincts", and that as a father himself he wept at reports of 13-year-old Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, from Brixton, south London, dying without a parent at his bedside.

Some 10 years ago research by the Co-op revealed a quarter of people were guilty of failing to show respect to funeral processions while nearly a third of people aged 18 to 44 were unaware of the tradition of giving way to cortèges, and more than half did not know that pedestrians would normally show respect by stopping what they were doing.

The research showed three traditions favoured by the older generation are:

• Stopping what you are doing;
• The good old-fashioned doffing/tipping of the cap or removing your hat altogether; and
• Another appreciated gesture was pedestrians not crossing the road in front of a funeral cortege and "standing back" to indicate you are allowing the hearse to proceed.

Central England Co-op Funeralcare has outlined several changes to the way it works due to coronavirus outbreak.

• Funeral homes are now closed to the public with clear information displayed on how to contact the teams if needed;
• All arrangements now being made over the telephone and by email;
• Visiting loved ones is still allowed by appointment and providing social distancing guidance can be followed;
• Closing florist shops based on Government instructions. Families can still take their own flowers direct to any service;
• Being unable to provide limousines to comply with social distancing advice;
• Funeral directors being encouraged to use wheeled trolleys to bring loved ones into services; and
• New headstones and refurbishment of existing ones will now be carried out after the current restrictions have been lifted. Stone removals for burials will still be provided

People can keep up to date with how Central England Co-op is responding to the coronavirus outbreak by clicking here .

Last week former Welsh Assembly member Lorraine Barrett called for an outright ban on funerals during the coronavirus crisis.

Mrs Barrett, a humanist celebrant, said an outright prohibition – if only for a few weeks – would protect families as well as crematorium and funeral workers.

She said the arbitrary nature of limits on numbers set by individual crematoria and the impersonal ways in which funerals were being conducted was exacerbating bereaved families' distress.

The current situation had created a "mishmash of different approaches to the funeral process", she said.

"Some crematoria around the UK have stopped attendances at funerals, so you just have a direct cremation with no-one there," she added.

Mrs Barrett, who stopped conducting services in early March, said government guidelines state "immediate family can attend a funeral, up to a certain number", which had led to more questions.