Before 2020, cheap air travel combined with new and effective communications technology enabled us to visit parts of the world with ease and frequency. Today millions of people are working and living abroad even if the travel industry has slowed down. As funeral directors with extensive repatriation expertise, we understand it’s a particular tragedy for families facing loss whilst separated by thousands of miles.
More recently, that bitter experience is shared by those who may not be physically that far apart, but lockdown, self-isolating or quarantining means they may as well be a million miles away. Whilst there is never any substitute for being right there, technology has helped bring funeral services to family that are distant or distanced and even allows those miles away to participate in the service.
2020/21 saw the value of live-streaming or webcasting funeral services. What used to be the domain of crematoriums only, the rise in new technology means we have live-streamed services from cemeteries, churches, our service chapels. We even hosted a drive-through funeral with live AV from a farmers field and live streamed from a beach!
This has allowed family to ‘attend’ (by watching and listening in) or ‘participate’ (by sending audio or video messages) from afar. They’ve been included and part of a service they would previously have been excluded from.
Live streaming and recordings mean there are no limits to who can “attend” a funeral and it opens the way for more family, friends, neighbours and colleagues to pay their respects.
Bringing families together and creatively helping bereaved loved ones left behind, in any way we can, is both our passion and our reward. No matter where. No matter how.
Lean on our experience when you need it the most.