Central England Co-op Funeralcare asks for colleagues to be treated with care, compassion and respect while working hard to support families who have lost a loved one

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 28/04/2020

Central England Co-op Funeralcare has issued a plea for people to show ‘care, compassion and respect’ to its colleagues working around the clock helping families say goodbye to their loved ones.

The funeral care provider, which operates over 130 sites across 16 counties, is asking communities to come together and support its front-line colleagues who are going above and beyond in order to help families during this uncertain time.

Following Government and Public Health England guidance, the business has had to make major changes to the way it works including everything from planning funerals to the number of people able to attend services.

Now, members of the public are being thanked for their patience and understanding over these changes, but also asked to ensure that colleagues continue to be treated with ‘care, compassion and respect’ as they work hard to care for their loved ones while trying to keep themselves and the public safe.

Hazel Moss, Head of Funeral at Central England Co-op, said: “We are working to do all we can to support our families at this difficult time but we feel these measures have to be put in place to protect them and our colleagues.

“We want to thank everyone we are working with at this difficult time for their understanding of the major changes we have had to make when it comes to how we help them say goodbye to their loved ones.

“We are today asking that everyone we help continues to be kind and treat each other with care, compassion and respect.

“These are circumstances that none of us could have imagined, but it continues to be our privilege to support families at this difficult time. Together, we will still give your loved one the best funeral we can, in the current circumstances.”

The plea comes after the Central England Co-op Funeralcare put in place a raft of changes to keep its colleagues and customers safe including arranging funerals over the phone rather than in person, working with local councils to limit the number of people in attendance at services and working with families to organise services of remembrance following the pandemic to honour their loved ones.

The business is also asking communities to come together and help those who have lost someone close to them at this time by asking people, if they see a hearse while they are in their front garden or out for their daily exercise, to stop and bow their head in a show of respect and to support families.

People can keep up to date with how Central England Co-op is responding to the Coronavirus by visiting www.centralengland.coop/updates

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About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral, travel and property investment.

Co-operatives have always been there for their communities; they were formed to protect them and help them flourish. 

Our 7,900 colleagues who serve Members and customers work hard to ensure that co-operative values, principles and spirit flow through everything we do to help support and improve our local communities.

Owned by hundreds of thousands of Members, we have over 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. 

We are proud of our reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.

We invest a percentage of our trading profit into local communities through our Community Dividend Fund scheme, have donated over £1.3 million to our corporate charity partner Dementia UK and also operate a pioneering food redistribution partnership with FareShare Midlands so unsold food goes to those in need.

Visit www.centralengland.coop for more information or follow us on Facebook or Twitter using @mycoopfood

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop