MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Sarah JoneS, 39, set up Full Circle Funerals in 2016, an award-winning funeral service based in Guiseley and Bramley, West Yorkshire. She lives in Burley in Wharfedale with her husband, a psychiatrist, and their son, nine, and daughter, six.
I WENT to Edinburgh Medical School and qualified as a junior doctor, worked in the NHS for five years then started training as a vascular surgeon. But I didn’t feel it was right for me, so I set up a social care business, supporting adults with learning difficulties and challenging behaviour.
Then I started thinking about funerals: how you have to choose to go traditional or alternative. Neither is really me and I reckoned that was true of a lot of people.
The funeral industry is unregulated; anyone can open premises. And what people need is support to create a funeral that truly reflects the individual.
I’m comfortable talking about death and supporting people in difficult circumstances. As a young doctor, I felt able to deal with emotional, bereaved families.
At Full Circle Funerals we meet the family, establish a rapport and find out their objectives and anxieties. Some need direction, but others want to be given choices. Often the smallest thing, such as whether you put flowers on the coffin or we do, is so important.
A funeral firm can have Sarah’s plan: £7.99,
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Street sites and a central hub where it looks after the person who died. I bought my own premises as I wanted control over what the mortuary facilities looked like, too — no dark mahogany; I wanted it to be light and open.
Rather than employing a funeral director, I hire people from health and social care backgrounds — how they support people is aligned to my philosophy. Most people want continuity by having the same person throughout arrangements and at the funeral. I wrote a guide for anyone planning a funeral, to demystify the process.
People think running a funeral service is depressing. But it’s lifeenhancing. You’re meeting people at the hardest time in their lives. The worst has already happened.
A good funeral can be a crucial step towards healing. You help people find their inner resilience — that’s such a privilege. The nice thing about winning The Good Funeral Award in 2017 is it’s based on feedback from people.
I believe passionately that we would all benefit from speaking about death more openly, so we are better able to support ourselves and our loved ones.
fullcirclefunerals.co.uk