Popularity of funeral service rooms in 2021

Popularity of funeral service rooms in 2021

Choosing to have a funeral in a funeral director’s service room offers a range of added benefits to families, especially during the current climate where social distancing is still in force and limits to attendees is a changing picture. The scope of choice is no...
Lasting legacy for North East Families

Lasting legacy for North East Families

Further coverage of Vinnie’s Cot, donated by Natalie and Callum Laidlaw in memory of their son Vinnie.  Earlier this month, the cot was donated to William Purves, enabling families throughout the North East region to spend more time at home.  Read more about...
A promise that’s worth something

A promise that’s worth something

When it comes to your funeral, or that of a loved one, you need to trust who you choose to help with the arrangements. It’s not a purchase you make every day and it’s often influenced by who your families and friends have used in the past or who is nearest. Sometimes...
Lasting legacy for North East Families

Cuddle Cot Donated for North East Families

It was our privilege to receive “Vinnie’s Cot”, from Alnwick couple Natalie and Callum Laidlaw on Friday in honour of their own son who was stillborn in March. The cuddle cot enables bereaved families to say goodbye, for a little longer and in the...
Planning Ahead to Mark 2021 Dying Matters Week

Planning Ahead to Mark 2021 Dying Matters Week

As published in the Edinburgh Evening News 10 May 2021, Andrew Purves encourages people to start a conversation about death and dying with loved ones, make some decisions, so they will have the best plan in place before they die. If Covid‐19 has taught us anything, it...
Reflections of a funeral director

Reflections of a funeral director

Time waits for no man and this month I celebrate reaching the milestone of sixty years. Is that possible, already? Over half of, what seems a very brief lifetime, I have been a Funeral Director. Over thirty years, in a profession where traditions are so jealously...
New Names.  Same team, same promise.

New Names. Same team, same promise.

This week we rebranded our five Northumberland brands to William Purves. Alistair Turner in Amble, Alnwick and Rothbury, Jacob Conroy & Son in Morpeth and Guidepost, Gary Staker in Shiremoor and Monkseaton, Peter Grenfell in Ashington and Tom Woodhouse in Blyth...
How planning your funeral can actually help your tax position

How planning your funeral can actually help your tax position

You’ve heard the phrase: “there are two certainties in life: death and taxes.” What’s less well known is that planning ahead for one’s funeral tomorrow can actually help improve their tax position today.  And as the tax-year end approaches, interest in...
Minister Urges Mourners Not to “Turn Up”

Minister Urges Mourners Not to “Turn Up”

At a time of significant restrictions, Andrew Purves gives perspective on the debate surrounding roles and responsibilities in the face of unexpected crowds attending Scottish funerals. His comments were in response to the Scottish Health Minister’s reminder that...
Funerals in the bleak midwinter

Funerals in the bleak midwinter

As one of the UK’s most popular Christmas carols, various versions of In the Bleak Midwinter are cheerfully sung in churches, village halls and high streets throughout December. Roll on a few weeks and I can assure you, there are fewer places bleaker in...