A Nottinghamshire funeral firm says life is settling down into a “new normal” after the easing of the coronavirus rules allowed it to return to offering a traditional service and loosened the restrictions on mourners.
Gillotts Funeral Directors says that it has been able to return its fleet of limousines to active service and can now receive visitors at its offices – albeit just two at a time and by appointment only.
The company, which operates five offices – in Eastwood, Kimberley, Selston, Stapleford and Heanor in Derbyshire – had been working under tight restrictions designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
These included not being able to use limousines to transport families to funerals, the need for meetings conducted over the phone or via an online streaming apps, bans on pall-bearers bearing coffins on their shoulders and limits on the numbers of mourners attending funerals.
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Places of worship have been closed and mourners were not allowed to sing, nor give each other hugs if they did not live in the same household.
Joanne Hutsby, a partner in Gillotts, said that the company has now fitted Perspex screens in all of its limousines, is offering face-to-face meetings and can arrange for small funeral services to be held at some churches once more.
She said: “There were a great many ways in which our profession was affected by the coronavirus restrictions, so it feels good to be able to return to a ‘new normal’ and offer families the more traditional service that they want.
“When the restrictions were introduced in March, we had to put in place a whole range of provisions, including PPE for our staff, investing in the technology necessary to ensure that we could communicate remotely with families and using artificial flowers because there were so few flowers available.
“That, plus the restrictions on funerals and the well-publicised issues that caused presented us with many challenges but we are pleased with how we continued to offer the service our families expected from us during what was a period of heightened emotions and generalised anxiety.”
One aspect which came to the fore during the lockdown was the way in which mourners used social media to broadcast funerals and burials to friends and families who were unable to attend.
Joanne added: “Before lockdown happened, it would have been unthinkable for anyone to get their mobile out at the graveside and film what was going on for people watching at home, but the restrictions meant that it was no longer taboo.
“That did help to make a difference for families, although it was a strange sight at first, especially when everyone crowded around the phone to wave hello at the mourners at home.
“We also found that people in the streets were more respectful of us as we passed by in our hearses, while neighbours have also come out of their homes to pay their respects as the family left for the crematorium.
“Funerals are starting to feel a bit more normal, but there is still a long to go until we can get back to the simple things we used to take for granted, such as helping an elderly widow in and out of a car, or dealing with large numbers of people at a funeral. “
ENDS
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