Family Tree Funeral Company

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Family Tree Funeral Company

We care that each family feels good about how they arranged their funeral.

Our job is to guide families, walking alongside them, doing whatever it takes to ensure that it all goes completely smoothly.
☎️ +44 1453-776779

20/10/2025

🌱 How 'Green' are Green Burials? 🌿
Thinking about funerals and our environment? At Family Tree, we believe you really can honour your loved one in a way that cares for the earth as well as your memories.

❓ But what does "green burial" mean? Here's what you need to know about environmentally friendly burials — and how local cemeteries in Stroud are supporting this option:

⚰ Coffin, shroud, or urn: Choose biodegradable options like untreated wood, wicker, bamboo, cane, wool, or cardboard. Avoid plastics and varnishes—natural is best.

💚 Fixtures: Linings, handles, and nameplates should be made from natural materials or simple metals.

❌No embalming: Most green burials don't allow embalmed bodies, as chemicals harm the soil and water.

⛏Shallower grave depth: Supports natural decomposition, allowed by cemetery guidelines.

✝ Headstones & memorials: In green areas, markers are usually minimal—think shared wooden posts, simple plaques, or memorial trees. No plastic or concrete.

💚 Meadow maintenance: Minimal mowing and no harsh chemicals; wildflowers and native trees preferred.

🚍Transport: Using local materials and funeral services reduces carbon footprint.

📍Stroud: Leading the Way
Places like Brimscombe Cemetery offer meadow burial plots, strictly for biodegradable coffins or shrouds, and do not allow embalmed bodies (unless for legal reasons). Meadow plots are single, natural, and kept as peaceful wildflower meadows—no large monuments or decorations.

❓Why Choose a Green Burial?

✅No toxic chemicals or plastics
✅Low impact, cost-effective, simple and beautiful
✅Promotes wildlife, wildflowers, and healthy soil
✅Leaves a gentle, living legacy

👉🏽There are still spaces available at Brimscombe's meadow burial area for local families. If honouring your loved one's memory in harmony with nature matters to you, we're here to guide you through every green option with kindness and clarity.

🗨 Contact Family Tree Funeral Company if you'd like to learn more about how a green farewell could work for your family.
familytreefunerals.co.uk

16/10/2025

Sharing• - “Austin Roy is an English teacher at Flintridge Preparatory School, where he teaches a senior course on Joan Didion and grief, inviting students to read The Year of Magical Thinking and talk openly about death.

At End Well 2024, Austin shared why he believes Death Education should be part of every high school curriculum—and how giving young people the language to talk about dying can change the way we all live.

Watch his talk, and get your tickets to End Well 2025, at the link in bio!”

What do you think?

14/10/2025

👉 Been thinking about completing powers of attorney? Now is the time to act.
Start your Lasting Power of Attorney today—for tomorrow's peace of mind, and a saving before the government's fee rise!

⏰From 17th November, the government fee for registering a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) will rise from £82 to £92. If you've been considering putting an LPA in place, we recommend starting the process now to save money and secure peace of mind for you and your loved ones.

❓Why arrange a Lasting Power of Attorney?
An LPA is a legal document that lets you appoint one or more people you trust to make decisions about your welfare, finances or health if you become unable to do so yourself. It gives you the control, minimises stress for family, and ensures that your wishes are respected—before there's ever a crisis.

👉🏼 Arranging an LPA can be complex and confusing, but Jane at Family Tree offers expert, sensitive guidance at a fraction of the cost charged by solicitors, saving you time, money and worry.

Don't wait—take action before the price goes up.

For confidential, friendly help or to learn more, visit our End of Life planning page or contact Jane directly: 01453-767769
https://www.familytreefunerals.co.uk/end-of-life-planning/

10/10/2025

• “Today is World Mental Health Day. It’s a day that should be every day of the year. You are worthwhile, and you deserve to be here. “

07/10/2025

🎶 The Soundtrack of a Life

A recent BBC article tells the story of Dave Gilmore, a local DJ now creating one final playlist — the songs that have carried him through life and will accompany him through his final days. From Guns N' Roses to Pink Floyd, his choices reflect how deeply music connects us to love, memory, and meaning.

At Family Tree Funerals, stories like Dave's remind us how important it is to talk about dying — not as something to fear, but as part of living well. Preparing and sharing your wishes can bring comfort and clarity to those you love.

We offer an end-of-life planning service to help make that process easier, and we've created a free downloadable document to guide you through your own decisions — from music to rituals and final wishes. You'll find it under our Costs and Planning menu:
👉 familytreefunerals.co.uk/end-of-life-planning

Let's keep breaking the stigma around talking about death — because every life deserves to be remembered with care, compassion, and authenticity.

What's on your playlist? 🌿

BBC article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3e7n40vyx2o

www.familytreefunerals.co.uk

26/09/2025

⚰️ Could Stroud Have Its Own Coffin Club?

In New Zealand, “Coffin Clubs” are flourishing — community groups where people gather to design and personalise their own coffins. Far from gloomy, these clubs are full of laughter, creativity and connection. These photos show the an example and its cheery designer from the club at Hawkes Bay, Hastings, NZ.

🎨 Members paint, decorate and sometimes even build their own caskets — transforming something often seen as sombre into a meaningful, personal expression of life. For some, it’s a way of taking control; for others, it’s about removing fear and sparking honest conversations about mortality.

🌳 At Family Tree Funerals, we believe in opening up conversations about death and dying — making them more natural, creative, and even life-affirming.

So we’re curious… 💭
👉 Would you like to see a Coffin Club in Stroud?
👉 A space where community, creativity, and conversation about end of life could come together?

Tell us what you think — we’d love to hear your thoughts. 🌱

You can read more about Hawkes Bay Coffin Club in our linktree bio or here:
https://tinyurl.com/HBCoffinClub

24/09/2025

Resharing this beautiful post from • as it says so very much:-

💬“DON’T BE SCARED OF MY DEAD BODY.

I’ve actually written these words on my own funeral design document.

When I die, I (KV) want to give my friends and family the option to say goodbye to my (fully) shrouded body before the natural burial takes place.

My body may be dead, but it will still have a familiar shape and weight. It can still be touched. It can be carried. It can be anointed with scent.

Add jam jars of homegrown, handpicked garden flowers to the shroud cradle. Tie bright ribbons and bibbons to hang down from the cradle’s handles. Make it colourful, vibrant, soft and pretty. Death does not have to be ugly, dull and formal.

Take it in turns to add natural, compostable items to the shroud. Items that remind you of me or that represent an aspect of our relationship.

Take your time. There is no need to rush.

This photograph was taken at our first eco-funerals photoshoot, so as to help people better visualise how else funerals can be in the UK. The shrouded figure here is a mannequin.

If you might want something like this, you need to write it down and/or tell others about your funeral ideas and wishes.”

-coffin

23/09/2025

💚 A Heartfelt Thank You 💚

🫶🏼We are deeply touched by this kind feedback shared on Google Reviews. At Family Tree Funerals, our role is to gently support, guide and care for families through one of life’s hardest times.

Hearing that our presence has brought comfort, reassurance and ease means so much to us.

🙏🏼With gratitude to the family who shared these words, and to all those who continue to place their trust in us.

18/09/2025

🌿 Supporting Families Through Grief 🌿

At Family Tree Funerals, our service to bereaved families is rooted in personal, compassionate and trusted care.

As part of this commitment, we are honoured to offer families a copy of 'When Words Are Not Enough: Creative Responses to Grief' by Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds, published locally by Quickthorn Books. The foreword is by Dr Kathryn Mannix.

💜 This highly acclaimed book is:

📖 Richly illustrated and easy to read

✨ Full of powerful stories from fourteen individuals whose lives have been enriched by creative and active ways of responding to deep loss

💬 Described as “beautiful, hopeful and profoundly moving” by Dr Rachel Clarke, and as “the best book on grief I’ve read” by Guardian writer Annalisa Barbieri.

Jane and Jimmy, themselves bereaved parents, share their own story of living alongside grief after the loss of their son Joshua. Their own grief journey that included filmmaking, photography, running—and now writing—led to the creation of The Good Grief Project charity, the film A Love That Never Dies, and this book.

Every copy purchased supports The Good Grief Project, helping bereaved parents and siblings find ways of living creatively with loss.

🕊️ Jane Diamond, owner of Family Tree Funerals, says:
“We are delighted to support the Good Grief Project by offering this beautiful and valuable resource to our families. We hope it will bring comfort, understanding, companionship during bereavement.”

Because at Family Tree, we believe love never dies—and that our grief deserves considered care.

16/09/2025

🐻✨ Find a Golden Bear at Family Tree Funeral Company

Compassionate, trusted, and independent, they provide care with heart to our local community.

Our little bear is hiding somewhere cosy, maybe near the front display?

Pick up your map and see if you can find them all! 💛
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/wigglyt1/1850381

📸 Tag us in your photos on social media.

Address

1 Middle Street
Stroud
GL51DZ

Telephone

+441453767769

Website

http://www.familytreefunerals.co.uk/

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