Southern Co-op’s East Devon Crematorium has raised has raised £8,000 for a Devonshire hospice through a national verified scheme that recycles metals which remain after cremation.
Supported by the society’s East Devon Crematorium near Exeter, the scheme is recycles items used in the construction of the coffin or orthopaedic implants, with the express consent of bereaved families.
The proceeds from the scheme, which is run by the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management, are returned to the crematorium, which donates the money to local charities.
Hospiscare provides high quality care and support to people with a progressive life-limiting illness, and those close to them, living in Exeter, east and mid Devon. The charity currently supports around 740 patients and their families and friends.
Clinical director Tina Naldrett said: “It is always so incredible that bereaved families and friends are so generous at a time when they are working through their loss.
“We so appreciate this thoughtful gesture and will be putting it to good use in the delivery of care locally in East Devon. We see people at their most vulnerable. Donations like this make all the difference in a very real way.”
Georgina Bembridge, manager at East Devon Crematorium, said: “The support people get through the hospice can’t take away people’s suffering but can help them to find a way through it. It is incredibly important and, thanks to donations like this, the doctors, nurses and caring volunteers are there for people 24 hours a day seven days a week.
“It is heart-warming to know that this donation has come from the generosity of loved ones. It is because of them that we are able to make a difference to local causes.”
