MuchLoved has adapted its service to enable families to still remember their loved ones and be part of funeral services, even with lockdown restrictions. These updates have proved of vital importance to our partners. Jenni Vardy, Funeral Director from W.S.Ingham & Son Ltd told us;
"The last year has been incredibly challenging for us, just like everyone else in the industry. We have strived to provide the same caring, personalised service to our clients that we always have, and with MuchLoved we've been able to continue to do so.
Being able to tailor the tribute page to family’s’ needs, hide funeral details, offer online donations and live stream services for family members that can't attend has been so helpful. Our families have found such great comfort in being able to share memories and photographs of their loved one at this most difficult time. Circumstances are far from normal, but working with MuchLoved means we can still provide excellent personalised care for our clients, whatever restrictions we are under."
1. Hide part, or all, of a funeral notice.
MuchLoved automatically offers all of our partners unlimited funeral notices, with detailed information including Google Maps, dates and times, and special instructions from the family. However, during lockdown, with such tight restrictions in place, it may not be appropriate to share all of this information with the wider public. You can easily hide some, or all of this information on a tribute page, by simply changing a couple of settings.
If you don't want the funeral date and/or location to display, but you still wish people to be able to add messages of condolence to the tribute and make in-memory donations, then simply use the following fields:
Funeral message: include any special instructions or messages in the ‘Funeral message’ section.
Date of funeral: add the date, which will then be hidden until you want to display it as per below.
Donation instructions: add the charity/organisation as usual.
Service details: simply tick ‘The service is private’ box (see below) so that the date and location do not display.
2. Offer Live streaming links
You can offer your families the option to stream their service with wider family and friends, if the crematorium offers this service. With so many restrictions on numbers attending a service, this option can bring comfort to any family unable to attend.
Live streaming links can be included in the ‘Funeral message’ section and will then appear directly on your website under the relevant funeral notice
3. Online funeral donations
MuchLoved allows a family to choose one, or several good causes to collection donations for on a page. These funds are securely collected, processed and sent to the charities automatically. There is no need to handle cash, and Gift Aid is also claimed automatically, and paid to the charities.
Charities typically receive more through online donations than via a cash collection, particularly when claiming Gift Aid, so not only do the good causes receive more funds, but the family doesn't have to worry about collating cheques or handling cash. This is of particular importance during the pandemic, when many family members will be unable to attend in person, but can still donate online.
4. Offer condolences online
With such restricted services, many families often have to choose who can and cannot attend on the day. If a family cannot be there in person, they can still upload photos and add memories and reminiscences to the tribute page; wherever they are in the world.
While they may not be able to be together, the family can still connect and share their condolences together, bringing a measure of comfort under incredibly tough circumstances.
As always, if you have any questions or need help using any of the features of our service please don't hesitate to contact our support team on 01494 722818 or via email at support@muchloved.com
