What We Do and How We Help

Most families have never had to arrange a funeral before, so it can be a hugely daunting experience being faced with the responsibility of this, at the same time as grieving for the loss of your loved one.

Our role as Funeral Director encompasses many things, and we willingly undertake these tasks on your behalf, giving you the time to focus on your loss and deal with your grief. But as you embark on this journey to arrange a funeral, it may be helpful to you to understand what will happen over the coming days and weeks as we work together to create a truly fitting send off for your loved one.

If your loved one has died at home, we will arrange to bring them into our care as soon as you are ready. They will arrive in a private ambulance and will give you all the time you need to say your goodbyes.

If your loved one has died in a care home or hospital, we will liaise with them directly to arrange for your loved one to be brought into our care.

If death was unexpected, then the death will be reported to the coroner. In many cases, this should not delay the funeral, so please call us and we will explain the procedures involved.

When your loved one arrives at Hillier’s they will be cared for at our funeral home by our expert team of professionals.

3 We arrange the funeral on your behalf

The arrangement meeting

We will then arrange a suitable time and date to meet you. This can be in one of our funeral homes, we can visit you at your home, or speak on the telephone or on a video call. The choice is yours.

Think about who you want to be at this meeting to support you and help you to make decisions.

We are there to support and guide you. You can take all the time you need. And we can stop and take a break at any point.

We start by spending time getting to know you and your loved one. We talk about what you know about their funeral wishes. Don’t worry if you don’t know any of their wishes, simply by talking about your loved one, the kind of person they were and their passions and achievements, we will help you create a funeral that is truly unique and personal.

We will talk about how we care for your loved one:

• How should they be dressed including hair, makeup and jewellery
• Embalming, what is it and why might you choose it
• What type of coffin
• Is there anything you want to place in the coffin with them
• Visiting your loved one in our Chapel of Rest

We will talk about the funeral service:

• The type of funeral, either a cremation or burial
• The style of funeral, such as a traditional or religious funeral. A simple funeral or a green or natural funeral. A celebration of life or maybe an unattended direct cremation
• All the different ways the service can be personalised; such as the funeral vehicles, the processional route, and the venues. The choice of minister or celebrant to lead the service. Funeral flowers, orders of service booklets. Also the music, readings and eulogies. As well as any audio visual presentations or videos to be played. And of course the wake afterwards.

It’s our role to show you the most suitable options and choices available to you, which is why we spend time getting to know you and your loved one first of all. Only by doing this, can we help you create a funeral that is really special and unique.

We will also talk to you about the cost of the funeral:

• We will explain the different types of costs, including our funeral director fees as well as third party costs that we pay on your behalf.
• We will ask how much you want to spend on the funeral and we will work to this budget
• We will ask if the deceased made any provision for their funeral costs in advance, such as a pre-paid funeral plan, life insurance or money left in their estate or savings.
• We will help you decide which aspects of the funeral are more important to you than others
• And if you need help with paying for funeral costs, we can point you in the direction of Funeral Safe, who offer loans to enable you to spread funeral costs over a longer period with a monthly payment plan. Or for some the Funeral Expenses Payment may be an option.

As every decision is made, we advise you of the costs, and keep track of the total. At the end of the initial meeting we will give you an estimate for the total cost of the funeral and we ask for a deposit to be paid at least seven days prior to the funeral.

We take care of all the arrangements on your behalf

By the end of this initial meeting many of the decisions have been made, and we can start work on arranging the funeral on your behalf.

There is usually a couple of weeks between the initial arrangement meeting and the funeral. These are all the tasks we perform on your behalf:

• We work to ensure all the legal paperwork and administration is completed for the funeral to legally proceed.
• We ensure our own team members, the funeral director, pallbearer and mortuary staff are all aware of all the relevant dates.
• We also liaise with third parties on your behalf, such as the crematorium or church, minister or celebrants. We speak to the florists, designers and printers for orders of service booklet. As well as coffin manufacturers and any specialist vehicles needed.
• We will also dress the coffin interior with a beautiful lining and pillow, we affix the handles, engrave the coffin nameplate and finally polish the coffin to ensure it looks perfect.
• We will be in contact with you regularly during this time to give you updates on our progress and to confirm any details that are still outstanding.

4 You can visit your loved one in our Visiting Room

Before the day of the funeral, you might wish to spend some time with your loved one in the Visiting Room.

Before your visit, we will prepare your loved one and place them in the coffin you have chosen. Before you go into the Visiting Room, we will take the time to explain to you what to expect, what the room looks like and where the deceased will be. We’ll be on hand the whole time if you need us. You can ask us any questions. And you can take all the time you need.

5 We attend and conduct the funeral service

On the day of the funeral we will make sure every detail goes ahead just as planned. Our Funeral Director will contact you a few days before and undertake the final checks to make sure that everything is just as you wish.

Our team will also take responsibility for checking the route in advance from the home of the deceased (or the funeral home) to the crematorium or church. We do this to ensure we know which direction we will be approaching the house, we check out any awkward turning spaces as well as make sure we’re aware of any planned roadworks or congestion on the day. And we plan our timings accordingly to ensure the day runs smoothly.

We ensure our hearse and any limousines are in immaculate condition, with items such as umbrellas, tissues and water bottles all ready and on-hand if needed on the day of the funeral.

And we take the time to make sure our appearance is immaculate too. Our uniform is neat and tidy, and our shoes are polished. At Hillier’s our suits are grey and our ties or cravats are green. But if you want us to wear a different colour tie (or something entirely different) to fit in with the style of funeral, then we are more than happy to do so. We have built up quite a collection of different colour ties!

When it is time to leave the funeral home, with respect and dignity we carefully transport your loved one along the processional route to the funeral service venue.

As a mark of respect we always page the hearse and coffin as it leaves the home of the deceased or from our funeral home. And we page again as we approach the crematorium or church cemetery.

Our team of pallbearers shoulder carry the coffin inside, led by the funeral director and we bow our heads in unison as a mark of respect once the coffin is placed on the catafalque.

We hand over the running of the service to either the minister or celebrant, but we are still present in the service room to ensure everything runs smoothly.

We greet you again at the end of the service and pay our respects to you and your family.

Once the service is over, we collect funeral flower cards to ensure you get to read all the messages written by family and friends and we follow your wishes in regards to the funeral flowers. We will also transport you and your family to the wake if this has been requested.

6 Our free of charge bereavement support services

We understand that once the funeral is over, the days afterwards can be difficult for people as they start to adjust to life without their loved one.

At Hillier’s, we provide all our clients access to our in-house Bereavement Support Service to help support you through the difficult grieving process. This service is provided free of charge.

We aim to care for both the newly bereaved and those in the later stages of recovery. There is the opportunity to receive one to one support by a trained counsellor or extended support by one of our trained volunteers. And we offer a range of groups and activities which bring people together in a caring and safe environment.

7 We continue to be there for you after the funeral

We find that many of the families we serve continue to stay in touch with us after the funeral. Whether this is to simply pop in for a cup of tea and a chat or to attend one our annual memorial service which takes place in October each year.

Whether the funeral of your loved one was last week, last year or ten years ago, our door is always open in whatever way you need us.

8 Creating a lasting memorial

Creating a lasting memorial is something many people like to do to honour and remember their loved one.

We can help you to arrange a scattering or interment of ashes, or to create a memento or jewellery containing the ashes of your loved one. Or we can help to create a permanent memorial at a graveside.

9 What our clients say about us

Many of our clients choose to send us thank you cards, which is very much appreciated, and we treasure these deeply.

We also ask if our clients could kindly share a few words about how they feel about the service we have provided, as we find that it is the words of other families that help other families the most with deciding which funeral director to choose.

You can read some of these online reviews here: