Weekend Burial Availability for Hyndburn Announced
A weekend burial service, is officially launching in Hyndburn on Saturday 7 October, 2023.
The new service is designed to facilitate short notice burials, particularly for religious requirements, and offer families more opportunity and flexibility for funeral services locally.
Cllr Steven Smithson, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, said:
“Over the years, residents have frequently been in touch to express the local need for weekend burials in Hyndburn, getting in touch with the Council, myself, and our MP Sara Britcliffe.
“I would like to thank everyone who has brought this issue forward to us and to everyone who has helped facilitate this new service.
“This additional service for our community will make a real difference to so many families and I am pleased to have been able to support this in some way.”
Currently, coffin burials in Hyndburn are ordinarily undertaken during weekday working hours, in the past this meant that requests for burials on Saturdays or Sundays were dependent on overtime availability and could not always be facilitated. Formalising this service means the community can access services they need locally and consistently.
In some religions (e.g. Islam and Judaism), there is a religious requirement that people are buried as soon as possible after the bereavement. This has meant families needed to turn to neighbouring local authorities for burial services to be held at weekends or on Bank holidays in the past.
Cllr Smithson continued:
“I am really pleased that people who require a weekend burial offer will now be able to use this service within the borough, instead of needing to go elsewhere. It is really important we adapt our services to meet the needs of our community and we will always listen to requests like this, working collaboratively to bring about positive change.”