Adapted extracts from a letter (Spring '97) to the Institute from Deirdre Martin. Martin is a regional volunteer for the Natural Death Centre, offering help and advice to families in the South of England who might want to arrange a d-i-y funeral.
Here in Brighton I have given advice on three d-i-y funerals in the last month. Two are using cardboard coffins from Brighton's Woodvale Crematorium, and one has used the design my husband recommended (see The New Natural Death Handbook, page 144). Woodvale provide a natural burial site and are really encouraging people to use the cardboard coffins; they are extremely helpful in every way.
We had occasion to use one of their cardboard coffins last December for my husband's sister. We cremated her at Eltham - where they have only had three d-i-y funerals in all the time they have operated.
For anyone interested in cardboard coffins, there are some useful tips. Firstly, they are large - 6' 4" - so the end may need packing out to stop the body slipping up or down whilst moving. Secondly, if anyone wishes to decorate them, watch the type of paint used; check that only non-toxic watercolour is used. We used this to paint my husband's sisters' with birds and flowers. Thirdly, the car used to transport the body must be big enough for the coffin - we had to hire a people carrier. Fourthly, the coffin is liable to sag if the body is heavy, so the base may benefit from a couple of struts of timber.
When one of the families mentioned above contacted a Brighton funeral director, they were told "You can't do this yourself": it's a pity we can't get our message across that, in fact, you can. The literature from Social Services doesn't mention anything other than funeral directors! Another difficulty we encountered was trying to find a vicar for one of the families. Woodvale said this was usually arranged through the undertakers, but they are considering starting to offer this service since they are getting more enquiries nowadays about d-i-y.
I thought moving a body would be difficult for people, but have been pleased to see that none of the families have been worried about handling the body themselves. One family took a body bag provided by Woodvale mortuary to a rest home, placed their mother in it, and put her in the car; another family took the cardboard coffin to Bury St. Edmunds Hospital, collected their uncle's body, and drove him back to Brighton for cremation. Incidentally the hospital, who had never had anyone do their own funeral before, were quite intrigued by the whole business.
The message that has come from all the families is how rewarding it is to do it yourself, how it has helped their grieving, and how unbelievably easy it has been.
Deirdre Martin, 1, Knoyle Road, Preston Park, Brighton BN1 6RB (tel 01273 507644).
Slightly shorter self-assembly cardboard coffins (5' 11") called Celtic Caskets are now sold by Alan Goldingay. For more details of these and many other different coffin types, see the book below.
The Natural Death Handbook is available for £14-99 incl. p&p from the Natural Death Centre, 6 Blackstock Mews, Blackstock Road, London N4 2BT (tel 0871 288 2098; fax 020 7354 3831; e-mail: rhino@dial.pipex.com) or you can place a secure online order.
This webpage forms part of the Global Ideas Bank (www.globalideasbank.org).
Book Orders: To order any of the other Natural Death Centre or Global Ideas Bank books.
To make a comment or to send an update, please e-mail the Global Ideas
Bank at rhino@dial.pipex.com and
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