Poppy's

25/09/2025

Poppy’s continues to grow! 🌱

We recently welcomed some new members to both our Mortuary Team and our network of trusted On The Day Funeral Directors.

Aylish and Leo join us as Practical Leads – they’ll get involved across Poppy’s work, from caring for people in our mortuary, to making sure each funeral happens exactly the way each client chooses.

Ash, Lauralee, Katherine and Nancy join us as On The Day Funeral Directors and will work seamlessly as part of our team to deliver outstanding funerals. On the day of the funeral, they walk beside our clients, ensuring everything is as it should be.

Photos are shared in order that people are named. Join us in welcoming them to Poppy’s.🧡

23/09/2025

Choosing to donate your organs to medical science when you die is a deeply personal decision. It can require brave conversations with those who will be organising your funeral - but it could offer someone else another chance at life and health.

Organ donation can also be very meaningful for those left behind - as Will’s family discovered when he died, and they chose to honour his wish to donate his organs.

We spoke to Will’s wife, Gemma, about her experience. Thank you to Gemma for talking to us.

For Organ Donation Week, Gemma explains why she chose to donate her husband Will's organs after he died of a brain tumour

22/09/2025

Today is the autumn equinox, and it’s glorious sunshine here at our offices in Lambeth Cemetery, Tooting 🍂

The conkers and acorns are dropping, the rosehips and hawthorn berries are ripe and soon the leaves will start to turn in earnest.

It’s a beautiful space to take a quiet walk and notice the changing seasons, and we’re very lucky to call it home.

19/09/2025

Every 3 minutes, someone in the UK develops dementia. It’s thought that two out of three people living with dementia in the UK have Alzheimer’s disease (source: Alzheimer's Society.)

Those living with Alzheimer’s and other causes of dementia are sometimes ‘shut out’ of experiences like funerals and funeral planning. Many of us may be unsure how to involve someone with dementia in a funeral. This can stem from a concern that the experience will confuse or distress the person.

Rosalie Kuyvenhoven is a funeral celebrant, researcher, Dementia Friend and a passionate advocate for making funerals more inclusive for people with dementia.

On our blog, Rosalie shares why it is so important for people living with dementia to be fully included in the funerals of the people they love and shares tips and ideas to create funerals that include everyone.


Rosalie Kuyvenhoven - Bilingual London Wedding Celebrant

Tips and ideas to help make funerals more inclusive for people with dementia from funeral celebrant Rosalie Kuyvenhoven

16/09/2025

Poppy’s recently had the pleasure of joining the Furzedown Project's LGBTQ 50+ Coffee Morning for a cuppa and chat about funerals and death care.

It was fantastic to have such an open conversation about what quality, LGBTQ-affirming care can look like in later life and in death. There were some fantastic questions and a lot of laughter, too.

We also caught up with Geoff Brown, a member of the steering group for the Coffee Morning to learn more about the project. Have a read:

Poppy’s attended the Furzedown Project’s 50+ LGBTQ Coffee Morning to talk about funerals and quality death care

15/09/2025

On Friday, Poppy Mardall was interviewed for a piece in The Telegraph exploring several cases of bad practice in the funeral sector.

Reports like these are often prompted by heartbreaking accounts of abuse – but, as Poppy points out, these instances represent terrible extremes on a spectrum of pervasive poor standards.

This may not always make the headlines, but it contributes to an environment in which those arranging a funeral are too often kept in the dark about how their person is being cared for.

Poppy’s will continue to champion outstanding death care, both by challenging bad practice and by offering an alternative – open conversations about death and funerals, and gentle, natural care for all the people we are privileged to care for.

Read the full article (please note – there is a paywall):
https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0n1rqB0

12/09/2025

📆 REMINDER: our Sheen Death Café meets next Thursday 18 September at the Hare and Hounds pub from 10.00 – 11.30.

Join Poppy and Jo for this inclusive, informal and friendly opportunity to drink tea and talk about death.

Death Cafés are a space to share our knowledge, our worries and our hopes about death, with a view to making the most of our lives. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counselling session. This opportunity is for adults and not children.

You don't have to book, you can just show up, but if you'd like to register your interest in advance, you can do so via Eventbrite.

No previous experience of talking about death is necessary so please do come along!

An inclusive, informal and friendly opportunity to gather together to eat cake, drink tea and talk about death.

11/09/2025

Say hello to Kate Bodell 👋

Kate has joined the Poppy’s team as our Funeral Arranger. Kate will soon be the one to give you a warm welcome when you pop into our bright and airy shop in East Sheen.

Kate joins us from a background in primary education. She will be bringing her calm and compassionate approach to supporting clients to take the first steps in arranging the funeral that is right for them.

We’re excited to have Kate joining us and look forward to you meeting her soon!

10/09/2025

Content warning: su***de

Many of us feel uncertain or uncomfortable when talking about su***de and suicidal thoughts. But this World Su***de Prevention Day, Samaritans are sharing the message that we can all interrupt someone’s suicidal thoughts – and possibly save a life.

In her newsletter, Life Lessons On Death, Poppy says, “talking openly [about su***de] is the path to prevention and there are kind, open, honest ways to have this conversation and support people when they need it.

"Evidence suggests one in five of us will have suicidal thoughts at some point. This is not a case of some of us being the helpers and others needing the help. We can all support each other to prevent suicidal feelings turning into the end of someone's life.”

Poppy’s newsletter has more reflections, along with links to lots of helpful resources and places to find support.

Click the link to read more - and if you need someone to talk to, you can ring Samaritans any time, day or night, on 116 123. 🧡

***depreventionday

Antidotes to Abuse, Su***de Prevention and Talking it Out Together | the latest edition of Poppy Mardall's newsletter, Life Lessons From Death

09/09/2025

Meet Kate and Sean! They spotted the poster for our next Death Café outside our sunny shop in Sheen and popped in for a chat with Rebecca (on the right).

Kate and Sean live in British Colombia, Canada, where they run Death Cafés themselves.

Instead of getting married, Kate and Sean are doing things their own way - they have decided to choose natural burial plots together. They are going to have a party with friends to celebrate this commitment! Kate and Sean also curate a lending library of books about death; any British Colombia locals can visit events@libraryofdeath.org to find out more.

Thank you, Kate and Sean, for coming in to talk with us. If you’re passing by in Sheen, please do pop in for a chat about all things death, dying and funerals. It’s amazing how life-affirming those conversations can be.

Curious about Death Cafés? Why not experience one for yourself. Join us next Wednesday 17 September at the Hare and Hounds pub in East Sheen from 10.00 – 11.30. Find all the details here:

https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0mVDwv0

08/09/2025

Organising a funeral can be very challenging.

Grief, stress and existing family dynamics can come into play and generate conflict.

We talked to Ammanda Major, Head of Clinical Practice at UK charity Relate, about how to navigate conflict around a funeral.

Organising a funeral can be very challenging. Grief, stress and existing family dynamics can come into play and generate conflict. In this blog, Ammanda Major, Head of Clinical Practice at Relate at Family Action, shares her advice on how to navigate conflict around a funeral.

04/09/2025

The team at Missing People is well acquainted with death and funerals.

As a UK charity providing a lifeline to those thinking of going missing or affected by a disappearance, part of their work is supporting those who find out the person they are seeking has died.

We spoke to Belen and Kirsty about their work, the unique challenges of grieving for a missing person and the importance of a physical body to funeral rituals.

Read the blog:

Poppy's Funerals learns how the charity Missing People supports families facing ambiguous loss and discusses estrangement and the unique grief of funerals without a body after a disappearance.