SAIF Golden Charter

A new and personal touch for families

A crematorium is offering an innovative way for bereaved families to make the funeral service for a loved one even more personalised.

Vale Royal Crematorium has revealed it can project the emblem of someone’s favourite sports team, or badge from a club or society, on to the catafalque during services.

Arranging the final farewell often means trying to balance a loved one’s final wishes with those of the family they leave behind.

Following the installation of a new projection system in its chapel, Vale Royal Crematorium can help families personalise a service in a way that their loved one would have truly appreciated and treasured.

Site Manager Dave Haslam explained: “Vale Royal Crematorium is committed to doing everything we can to make final farewells uniquely personal.

“The way in which people want to say their goodbyes has changed over time, with many families choosing not to have a traditional service and seeking, instead, ways of personalising the ceremony, often turning them into a celebration of life.

“Our latest initiative means we are well placed to be able to meet these needs.

“If, for example, mourners have been invited to wear a particular colour of tie, accessory, or football shirts, we can support this by projecting appropriate imagery on to the catafalque and even lighting the catafalque area in selected colours.

“Originally, we were looking at projecting images onto the voile and curtains, and the idea developed from there.

“We can potentially project any image, emblem, or logo, if we have a good quality, clear image to project in a legible manner.

“We know that families take comfort from ceremonies which feel just that little bit more personal and unique to the individual being remembered.

“We also know that sport is a life-long passion for many local people, and we hope that our finishing touch will help bring this aspect of their lives into their final send offs.”

The crematorium can also accommodate a variety of other personalisation requests, such as specific chapel decorations, music, photography on its digital screens, bringing a family pet along, releasing doves or accommodating other vehicles requested by families instead of a traditional hearse.

Dave added: “Our warm and welcoming chapel is an ideal blank canvas for making it uniquely personal to the bereaved and their loved one. It can be dressed to reflect their loved one’s favourite colour, sports team, hobby, or something else they loved.”

Vale Royal Crematorium is part of Westerleigh Group, the UK’s largest independent owner-operator of crematoria and cemeteries with 37 sites across England, Scotland and Wales.

To find out more about Vale Royal Crematorium, click here.