Funeral Industry under Scrutiny in the News… and its about time!
4 June 2018
Written by Director, Gareth Coles: If you’ve listened to the news over the weekend you may well have picked up a story that is also making newspaper headlines – about the price of funerals, the choice available to people, and the conduct of companies selling pre-paid funeral plans. In the last couple of days, Ministers […]
Dying Matters – And here’s why…
14 May 2018
Written by Director Gareth Coles: Today marks the start of Dying Matters Awareness Week – a week dedicated to encouraging and helping people to talk more openly about dying, death and bereavement, and to make plans for the end of life. As you might expect, this is a mission that is very close to my […]
What is a multi-faith funeral?
30 April 2018
Written by Director, Gareth Coles: It’s not all that long ago when traditional Christian ceremonies were the norm for funerals in the UK, but with an increasingly multicultural society in modern Britain, funeral providers have adapted the services we provide. People from all walks of life, cultures and religions are proud to call Cardiff their […]
Funeral Flower Etiquette by Religion: Should you send flowers?
25 April 2018
Written by Office Manager, Claire Robertson: Over the last couple of weeks, Gareth has been talking about religious and faith funerals. During my time with Coles, we have commissioned personalised funeral tributes on behalf of religious families in the shape of: Crosses, Angels, Gates of Heaven, Open Books, Jesus Fish, Five Pointed Stars, Aum, Khanda, […]
Spirituality in Life and Death
18 April 2018
Written by Director, Gareth Coles: In my last blog, I talked about religious traditions in death, using my own belief system – Roman Catholicism – as an example. Today, I’d like to talk about a growing trend in funerals: Spirituality.At Coles, we’ve been arranging Humanist Funerals (non-religious) for a number of years now, but at […]
March funeral flower of the month: the beginning of spring
19 March 2018
Written by Office Manager, Claire Robertson: The daffodil (narcissus) is without doubt, the most iconic flower in Wales – and it can be seen growing everywhere in swathes of brilliant yellow at this time of the year. Symbolising rebirth and new beginnings, which is why it’s sometimes known as the ‘Lent Lily’, narcissi are a […]
New Beginnings…
12 March 2018
Written by Director, Gareth Coles: I started planning my blogs about ‘New Beginnings’, our theme this month, the day Cardiff experienced a foot of snow on St David’s Day! Just a few days later, our beautiful new baby daughter, Sophia, finally joined us in time for us to have an extra special Mother’s Day this […]
Your Final Act of Love: Caring for the Dead
28 February 2018
Written by Director, Gareth Coles: When I started in the death care industry many moons ago – I made a decision. A commitment if you will, to the dying, the dead and the grieving, that I would do my very best to take care of them and ensure the funerals I planned would perfectly reflect […]
February Funeral Flower of the Month: It had to be the rose!
17 February 2018
Written by Office Manager, Claire Robertson: It would be remiss of me not to talk about the rose this month – it is, after all, synonymous with love, Valentine’s Day, and the month of February. Perhaps you were lucky to receive a red rose last Wednesday? The rose was the clear choice for our Petal […]
PRESS RELEASE: Two-dozen white roses set adrift on Valentine’s Day inspire a growing Death Positive movement in Cardiff.
13 February 2018
Cardiff, Wales, February 13th, 2017| On Valentine’s Day, 14th February 2018, two dozen white roses will be released downstream along with thoughts, feelings and messages to the deceased that were previously ‘left unsaid’. The timely petal release into the Rhymney River is the first of many events that Coles Funeral Directors has planned this year […]
Are you facing the death of a loved one?
8 February 2018
Written by Director, Gareth Coles: It’s been a really busy few months for Coles Funeral Directors, and we’re always deeply conscious that this means widespread sadness and grief for the many families we work with here in Cardiff. For some, death hits the family without any warning, whilst for others it comes as a release […]
Things Left Unsaid to your Loved One?
4 February 2018
Written by Director, Gareth Coles: Working closely with bereaved families throughout Cardiff, we’re very aware that in grief, many people feel regret that they didn’t get the chance, or didn’t have the courage, to share important things with their loved one before they died.So we’d like to give you the opportunity to acknowledge these thoughts […]