GRIEVING FAMILY CAN’T SAY GOODBYE
Dad’s ashes left on a shelf for six months
A grieving daughter has been left unable to say her final goodbyes to her beloved father for six months as the family waits for a burial plot.
Furious Jean Davis has been waiting for space to lay her beloved dad to rest at South Lanarkshire Crematorium since he died in April.
But, with no plots available for his family to say their final goodbyes, his ashes have been sitting in an urn on the shelf of a funeral parlour ever since.
Westwood House nursing home resident Robert Paterson finally lost his brave battle with dementia at the age of 84.
Jean said she has been left “disgusted” and unable to grieve properly because of the holdup, adding that her sister Anne and mum Anne, 84, have been left devastated by the ordeal.
The 58-year-old told the News: “We decided to buy a family lair at South Lanarkshire Crematorium to bury dad’s ashes.
“But bereavement services told us in June there were no plots available and instructed us to call back a month later. This happened again in July, August and September.
“We were finally told a plot would be released on September 23, only to then be told there would be nothing until the end of October. Apparently they don’t have the workforce and are dealing with so many funerals.
“I was so angry and annoyed at being fobbed off. We can’t be the only family trying to put a loved one to rest. I know someone who has been waiting since January.”
Lair purchases cost around £1000 and can include associated fees. South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) say there is a high demand for interment plots in the crematorium grounds.
Jean has taken her complaint to Lisa Cameron MP, who said the situation was “unacceptable”.
Dr Cameron said: “I hope SLC are able to take cognisance of the sensitivity of this issue for Jean and her family and ensure her father’s ashes are placed in the family lair at the earliest opportunity.
“Delays of this length unnecessarily compound family grief in these circumstances and are unacceptable.”
Jean, of the Village, said council officers will not even take her number to call the family back.
She added: “Me and my sister have had to keep calling them back.
“It’s disgusting they’re treating people like this. We don’t need this kind of stress when we’re dealing with grief.
“My dad’s ashes are sitting in a funeral parlour on a shelf all this time. My mum doesn’t want my dad buried in a cemetery.
“He is originally from Blantyre so she wants him in the crematorium grounds so it’s like being back home.”
Alistair McKinnon, head of facilities, waste and grounds services for the council, said there had always been a high demand for interment plots in the crematorium grounds.
He added: “We continue to develop land to provide additional family lairs at the crematorium as resources allow.
“However, it does take time to prepare the ground, construct paths and lay out the plots and markers. As a result we do not always have new family lairs available on demand.
“We have the deepest sympathy for families experiencing bereavement and for those preferring interment of the ashes immediately following a cremation we can offer plots in many of our cemeteries across South Lanarkshire.”
It’s disgusting they’re treating people like this. We don’t need this kind of stress when we’re dealing with grief.
Jean Davis