Photo: Poppy's Funerals
Day in the Life is a series of diaries from people at the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Coffins are also proving tricky to get hold of. We’re not currently able to offer the full range of coffins we’d normally to our customers – our suppliers are struggling to manufacture them due to increased demand and staff shortages. Flowers are also a problem, as all the florists are closed. We’ve been suggesting relatives bring in flowers from their gardens, or purchase silk or plastic flowers online.In the afternoon, I had the funeral of a 60-year-old man, who’d died of coronavirus. It was held at a crematorium, with 10 people there. The celebrant acknowledged what everyone was going through, and the fact there weren’t many people there. We had other attendees dialled in via videolink: lots of crematoriums already had video conferencing software before coronavirus, but the pandemic has really accelerated its use. Although there weren’t as many people there as the family would have liked, it did feel like the concentrated essence of a funeral. I think the family got what they needed from it.Most families have been really understanding. We’ve had boxes of chocolates saying, “We recognise this wasn’t the funeral we’d have chosen, but you made it as special as you can.” That does count for a lot.You go into this job because you want to help people. For me, my job has always been about supporting families. So having to tell people that they can’t carry their dad’s coffin into the crematorium, or they can’t have a wake, or that they have to un-invite people from the funeral, is really hard. The restrictions are in place for everyone’s safety, but it’s been challenging.I love my job, and it’s a privilege to help people, but lately I’ve been going home at the end of each day wondering if I could have done more for anyone given the circumstances.Sign up to our newsletter to get the best of VICE UK delivered to your inbox every week.