Independent Oxford Funeral Directors

Coronavirus – Covid-19

From Monday 18th May, we will be able to offer attended funeral services but albeit in a limited capacity. Different crematoria and cemeteries have different rules on the amount of people that can attend but currently it is between 10 – 20 people depending on the venue.

We do still have our own measures in place to protect our staff and to protect our clients. This means that currently we aren’t able to offer our family room to visit the person who has died and we aren’t able to have and of our clients within our office at all.

All of the funeral arrangements we make are made by telephone, email, text and Zoom. If there is another way that works for you, just ask. I am sure we are able to accommodate you.

We have all of the correct equipment in place to carefully care for people who have died as a result of coronavirus. As with all of the people we care for, everyone is treated with exactly the same dignity and reverence they deserve and all on our own premises in Oxford.

As a company, we remain dedicated to serving you and we are only a phone call away on 01865 714130.

We feel that as a small, independent company, we have a duty of care not just to our clients, but to our community. As a responsible company and employer, we have been following the Coronavirus outbreak closely since the end of December. We understand people are concerned but we have taken all necessary Government guidance and will continue to take every precaution.

We are able to arrange funeral services remotely via telephone, email, WhatsApp etc and have been doing so for many years. By being experts in this way of working, we are just as efficient as if we met face to face. The steps we are taking is to ensure potentially vulnerable clients are kept as safe as possible during this unprecedented time.

Over the coming days, it may be that more people are asked to self-isolate and therefore meeting with a funeral director would be impossible. To reassure the clients we work with, you will still receive the same level of care as we always give.

• We will continue to listen to the latest Government advice and adjust what we do and how we do it accordingly.
• It is important that we continue to look after the person who has died with the utmost dignity and we have now put steps in place in order to do this safely. This means our staff will be wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE) even when the risk is assumed to be low.
• It will no longer be possible for families to spend time with the person that died when they are with us.
• We are now only able to offer direct cremation and direct burial services with us. This is where a person is buried or cremated without a service or mourners in attendance. This is something we have been doing for many years and while you wouldn’t be able to attend, we will treat your person with the dignity and reverence they deserve.
• We have arranged the most beautiful and meaningful memorial services at later dates and we are more than happy to talk you through different options when you are ready.
•  All arrangements with us must now be undertaken remotely via email, telephone, FaceTime, WhatsApp or any other channel you wish.

By already being an expert in arranging funerals remotely, we don’t want anyone to feel helpless if they have to self-isolate while they are grieving. There is so, so much we are able to do without you physically needing to meet us and we promise we will make everything as easy as we possibly can.

If you would like to talk to us, please call 01865 714130 any time of the day or night.

Our email address is info@theindividualfuneralcompany.co.uk and we will respond as soon as we see messages come through to us.

Should you want to meet with a funeral director, this is still possible but this is by appointment only by calling 01865 714130.

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