Many of us have friends and relations who live abroad and, for them, travelling home for a funeral service isn’t always possible. Crematoria locally offer a media system that can be used to broadcast the funeral service privately and securely over the internet. This means that friends and relatives can view the service anywhere in the world.
The funeral service can be viewed either ‘live’ on the day by logging in at the correct time, or ‘on demand’ up to seven days after the service – which might be useful if it’s the middle of the night or somebody is at work at the time.
There is a charge for this service and you’ll be given a unique username and password that you can pass onto friends and relatives of your choosing.
According to an article in The Telegraph, a recent survey of funeral directors found that 61 per cent of them had received requests for live-streaming of services and around a fifth of Britain’s 281 crematoriums already have webcams in place.
Of course, it will never replace the connection of being with friends and family during this difficult time – but, for some, it does offer a chance to feel ‘part of the day’.
In the Telegraph article, John Childs, 87, said he welcomed the opportunity to live stream his wife Joan's funeral, so their son Wayne would be able to watch from his home 9,500 miles away in Australia.
Though Wayne and his family were able to come and be with her in her last few weeks, he had to leave to return to work in Perth, Australia and, as a result, had to miss the funeral.
Mr Childs said: "Wayne was able to see it as it happened, it meant the world to him."
We can also arrange for the service to be recorded and put on a disk for the family. This could prove comforting for somebody who wants to watch the service again privately in their own home or could perhaps be shared with an elderly friend or relative who might have been unable to get to the service.