Family have waited a year to scatter ashes at Southport Crematorium

A Southport family are reporting they have waited for over a year to spread the ashes of a deceased family member in the Garden of Rememberance at Southport Crematorium.

One local family reached out to OTS News after sadly reaching the first anniversary of the death of a loved one, only to find that the coronavirus pandemic was causing significant delays to the scattering of ashes at the Crematorium.

The family shared their story on condition of anonymity.

A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: “Our thoughts continue to go out to those who have sadly lost loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our staff have been working extremely hard to ensure that burial and cremation services remain a key service provided by the Local Authority during this time and we continue to offer as much support as possible to those who have lost their loved ones.

“Our Cemeteries and Crematoria teams have continued to be guided by national COVID-19 health and safety guidance and restrictions in order to keep families and mourners safe.

“Over the last 12 months there have been periods where it was necessary to suspend the scattering and burial of ashes, and this, together with the significant increase in cremations over that same period, has meant people having to wait much longer than normal for this to happen.

“We recognise that this is difficult for families and are doing all we can to address it, including employing extra staff to support this.

“The scattering and burial of ashes has resumed at Southport Garden of Remembrance, Thornton Garden of Rest and other cemeteries and we will shortly be contacting people to advise them of the process and when we will be able to arrange for their loved one’s remains to be buried or scattered in accordance with their wishes.”