Published Date: Apr 23rd, 2020
To keep people safe, funerals are restricted to immediate family only.
Funerals are being limited to small numbers of family members to help stop the spread of Covid-19 by minimising social contact. Please keep numbers to no more than 6 people. The Government has stressed that social distancing guidelines must always be followed, including at funerals.
At this time, immediate family is defined as:
- partner/spouse of the deceased,
- children (and their partners) of the deceased,
- parents (or carers) of the deceased, and
- brothers and sisters of the deceased.
The critical thing we must do is stop the disease spreading between households - we should not be meeting family members who do not live with us.
We appreciate that bereavement is a very difficult time for families and friends, but we must do everything we can to minimise the spread of Covid-19 and keep people safe. Recently, large numbers of mourners have been gathering in the crematorium grounds. Although we appreciate the desire of mourners to pay their respects we need to remind everyone that the crematorium is open to the immediate family attending the service only. Unfortunately, if these social distancing rules aren't followed, we'll be forced to move to review access to services, which is something we want to avoid.
One solution would be for mourners to pay their respects on line and to join funeral services through web streaming. We’re arranging for this to be installed in both of our crematorium chapels and would hope to have a service in place by the middle of May.
We've also confirmed that our chapels would be available for evening services of remembrance after the current restrictions have been lifted.
The message is for your protection and the protection of your loved ones, your community, our NHS and for our hardworking bereavement staff, we ask for your support.
For more information on bereavement and funerals please visit https://www.fife.gov.uk/kb/docs/articles/community-life2/bereavement-services