Memory Giving’s gift to grieving family
Online donation service Memory Giving, first established by brothers Julian and Matthew Walker, has now served tens of thousands of bereaved families.
One family was that of Richard Scholes, who died of cancer at the age of 38, leaving a wife and four children.
Richard’s father, Stephen Scholes, said: “Richard was full of fun, a fantastic dad, a fantastic husband, a really great guy. He was an ordained minister and had started a new church with his wife, Home Church in Morecambe. He ran it for 10 years until he became ill.
“When we lost Richard we didn’t know what in the world to do; we wanted to have a special offering but we didn’t know what for, and Memory Giving came into its own for us.
“Richard was quite well known in different areas and people were able to contribute through the Memory Giving website from all over the world. The donations went to the church and they bought a new pulpit which they dedicated it to him; there’s a little plaque on it. It was terrific.
“Without Memory Giving, it is a bit of a mess at the end of the service. When people have finished a funeral they want to go out and talk to family, loved ones and friends, they want to see the flowers and then they want to get off to the reception. They don’t want to be worried about money or who to give it to. With Memory Giving you can make the donations before the day, you can do it on the day, you can do it after the day.
“When Richard died we asked for donations instead of flowers. The new pulpit in his memory brings comfort. Richard was a good communicator and very hard working. He would be thrilled to bits.”
The SAIFCharter Executive’s John Byrne, of J T Byrne Funeral Directors, said: “Memory Giving makes life so much easier for us. It’s a fantastic service to be able to offer our clients and we are proud to do so.
“We are banking fewer cheques and less cash so it has reduced administration. It is accessed through our own website and is another way of creating traffic through our website.
“It helps us to support charities and organisations, creating an easy flow of online donations from the donator through to the charity or organisation. It is very effective.
“It has definitely been well received by bereaved families, and the fact they can include a personal message means a lot. It becomes very personal, rather than just sending a cheque through the post with a piece of paper explaining what it is for. Relatives in different parts of the world can donate easily.
“Memory Giving really does strengthen the services we offer and we would highly recommend it.”
Tags: A B Walker, donation, funeral director, J T Byrne, John Byrne, Julian Walker, Matthew Walker, Memory Giving, Richard Scholes, Stephen Scholes