Meet some of the people behind Southern Co-op Funeralcare

Steve Pearce, Chief Operating Officer for End of Life Services

Steve has worked for the business for over 35 years, starting his career as a trainee Funeral Director and working his way up to his current position of Chief Operating Officer for End of Life Services. He is also part of the leadership team for Southern Co-op.

Starting in June 1984, Steve has taken on many different roles within the regional co-operative society and has also held the position of National President for the National Association of Funeral Directors.

He completed his formal funeral training over a five- year period, which led him to become a fully-qualified funeral director and embalmer.

Steve’s experience was gained by being very hands-on in the different roles he has had within the funeral business and within Southern Co-op.

He was the force behind the acquisition and opening of various new The Co-operative Funeralcare funeral homes across the south coast, including the Isle of Wight, as the business began to truly expand from the mid-2000s.

Steve was also responsible for the idea to open the crematorium in Havant, now known as The Oaks Crematorium and had much to do with its operational design and concept.

After bringing the concept to the business, a strategy was developed and delivered. The aim was to be able to offer the best experience and service for the bereaved and local funeral directors.

So what does Steve like about working for the company?

‘There’s a nice feel to it and there has always been the next challenge to deliver,’ he said.

‘The main love of the job was and still is helping, supporting and caring for the bereaved during what can be the worst time of their lives. It’s great to have been able to have grown the business and support the many different communities that weren’t previously serviced by The Co-operative Funeralcare and Southern Co-op.’

Ian Rudkin, Crematorium and Cemetery Manager

Ian has worked for the business for almost five years, but has been involved in the funeral business itself for 28 years, having been based at another crematorium previously.

He has a wide range of responsibilities as the Manager of various crematoria and natural burial sites across the south coast; whether that is helping with finer details of a funeral or organising events for the bereaved, like a Christmas Memorial Service.

‘It’s about overseeing the funeral services and managing the natural burial grounds,’ he said.

‘It’s very much a hands-on job. We liaise with both the bereaved directly as well as our The Co-operative Funeralcare funeral homes or other funeral directors too.

‘As you can imagine, both our clients and our funeral homes have lots of different questions.’

Ian said there have been some challenges over the past six months when it comes to organising funerals, but that video webcasting has been something which has proven successful.

Normally, video webcasting the service has an additional fee but this has been waived during the days of Covid-19.

‘It’s our payback to the community,’ he added.

‘Our services have changed because of the pandemic. We are also trying to find ways to help those families during lockdown that couldn’t have full services.’

So what is it that Ian enjoys about his role?

‘We are doing a job that not everybody wants to do,’ he said.

‘It’s quite niche but it’s very important. It’s about the trust that we are given by people. They are trusting you with their loved ones and it’s a very rewarding job in that sense.’

Ian also wants people to be able to talk more openly about death and is encouraging the general public to make their wishes about their funeral clear to their loved ones by creating a special box or arranging a funeral plan.

It would enable people to share their wishes about their funeral to take the pressure off their family and friends when the time comes.

‘I just think it’s important to get people talking about death and removing the taboo around it,’ he said.

Sally Cornwell, Funeral Co-ordinator

Sally is based at The Co-operative Funeralcare funeral home in Fratton. She has worked for the business for five years and is very passionate about helping the bereaved.

She said: ‘Right from the beginning once I receive that first call from a bereaved person, I take over and start making funeral arrangements for the person who has passed away. It’s about liaising with the family from the start to ensure they and their loved one receive the best care, support and experience possible.

‘When I joined The Co-operative Funeralcare, I think I underestimated how much attention is given to every detail for our bereaved families. We really do help them as we would like to be helped in our worst time.

‘It’s about dealing with the families, to be there at the end of the line to give them reassurance. Some people don’t know what the next step is and they are relying on us to give them that information. We deal with it every day so we have the answers. Our aim is to look after the families and give their loved ones the service that they deserve.’

But Sally said organising funerals during a pandemic had been more challenging.

‘It’s a bit different with Covid-19 because everything is done over the phone or via email. In one aspect it’s making our job harder because you’re not getting that physical connection with the family. But we are still giving them the best care, support and experience possible.

‘Going through something like this can be extremely difficult. Some people don’t know which way to turn. We give them some reassurance about what’s going to happen and what the process is.’

Sally also heaped praise on her colleagues, who step in and support each other when needed.

‘If I’m not here I know I can hand over to my colleagues and I am leaving things in safe hands. Also we have an out-of-hours team available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.’

The Co-operative Funeralcare also offers a variety of different options for people to remember their loved ones such as turning the ashes into art or jewellery and offering alternative forms of transport such as diggers, a double decker bus or even a Robin Reliant ‘Only Fools and Hearses’ replica hearse.

Another unusual option is to have a loved one’s ashes sent into space and recorded for prosperity. All these options help to make a funeral experience really personalised for families and representative of their passed loved one’s personality.

To find out more about The Co-operative Funeralcare or find your nearest Southern Co-op funeral home, visit www.funeralcare.co.uk