With eco awareness, woodland burials in wicker coffins are no longer novel. Photograph: Musgrove Willows/Graham Hiscock
From the ‘mushroom death suit’ to no funeral at all, entrepreneurs are transforming the burial sector
Most of us come to terms with paying taxes, even if we don’t much like it. But it’s harder to face up to what Benjamin Franklin famously said was the only other certainty in life: our deaths. And that’s a problem, because in England alone, around half a million of us die every year, leaving our bereaved families to arrange our funerals and, for the 59% who haven’t made a will, deal with the administrative and emotional miseries caused when a loved one dies intestate.
Death needn’t be as mysterious or expensive as it has become. That’s according to a new band of entrepreneurs who are aiming to challenge what they claim is the oppressive and sometimes exploitative industry that profits from our inevitable demise.
Dan Garrett, co-founder of online will-writing website Farewill has an MA in design innovation, and he’s using those skills to unpick and then automate the processes required to create a will. “It usually takes up to six weeks, costs £300 to £800 and you end up with a pro-forma document,” says Garrett. His version takes half an hour and costs £50.
What does the legal profession think of his service? Garrett laughs. “I’ve been told it’s irresponsible, and there has been a vitriolic response from some solicitors.” But only 2% of us, he says, have affairs that are complicated enough to require bespoke legal advice. Where they do, Farewill’s interactive site will suggest they seek it.
We are no longer used to dealing with death. The average number of funerals arranged by any one person in their lifetime is just two, observes Fran Hall, chief executive of the Good Funeral Guide. “It’s a very unfamiliar experience, and I believe the funeral industry has taken advantage of that aura of mystery.”
Grieving relatives are hardly in the best state to shop around, if doing so means visiting three or four funeral directors. “An hour and a half down the line you’re emotionally spent and you can’t cope with doing it all again,” says Kim Bird, founder of the free Aboutthefuneral price comparison website.
Many funeral companies only offer services in bundled packages, and won’t put their prices on their websites, despite the fact that according to a survey last year, 63% of us now expect to be able to check or compare what we’re paying for.
Death, says Poppy Mardall, founder of Poppy’s Funerals, has “become a conveyor-belt experience”, with large funeral companies industrialising the process of caring for people’s bodies.
What needs to change, she believes, “is the whole way a bereaved person is treated from the moment they get in touch”. It’s not so much about the industry modernising, she says, “but reflecting on the levels of service an undertaker is able to offer, treating a person like an individual, trying to create an atmosphere that’s warm and comfortable, and without fear”. Her site is upfront about costs, and she aims to offer flexibility. “If it’s legal and possible, we’ll do it.”
Poppy’s offers an “A to B” service, where relatives are in complete charge, and all she does is provide a coffin and drive a van that transports the body on the day. Mardall believes Poppy’s Funerals was also the first to offer “simple cremation” in London when she launched five years ago. Now rising in popularity, this involves cremation with no funeral service at all. As Bird points out, with simple cremation you can easily save around £2,500 on the cost of a basic funeral, for which “you can have an amazing party celebrating that person’s life”.
The lead up to death can be scary, so taking back a degree of control can give comfort: the UK’s first “soul midwife” Felicity Warner trains others to offer holistic and spiritual care to the dying and their families. Some charge, some don’t, and the rate is similar to the cost of complementary therapies such as massage.
Does it feel strange to charge to offer emotional and practical support to a family in such a vulnerable situation? “It used to, but now it doesn’t,” says Warner. “Families feel that they can call on us more: when we didn’t charge, there was more ambiguity and awkwardness.”
Meanwhile, not only are people now more aware of ecological issues, they are also concerned about their impact on the planet after death. Woodland burials in wicker coffins are no longer novel, but the invention of the “mushroom death suit” – which utilises fungal spores – takes the eco-friendly approach to disposing of a body to a different level.
At Poppy’s Funerals, Mardall is clear about her purpose. “We’re just encouraging people to have some expectations,” she says. “Lots of other companies are now popping up who want to do things differently, which is great. If you offer a genuinely personal service, then I think it’s hard to do on a mass scale.”
