Advice, guides & articles

The Platinum Jubilee weekend at the beginning of June marks Queen Elizabeth’s 70th year on the throne. Here are some of the highlights of her time as Britain’s longest reigning monarch.

It's nice to put a face to a name, our Meet the Team blog series does just that. As part of Reach Plc, funeral-notices.co.uk have been publishing notices in local newspapers for over 100 years. Sarah Welton has been part of the team for more than 22 years and in that time has gained a wealth of experience and knowledge in both the media and funeral industries. Sarah began her career working for the Hull Daily Mail in a sales advertising role and has progressed within the business ever since. Sarah is mum to two boys and successfully juggles work and home life, leaving little time for relaxation. When opportunity allows she enjoys nothing more than catching up with her family or switching off with a good Netflix binge. Sarah manages the Funeral Notices team which is part of the Contact Centre, overseen by Director Darren Minns.

A jubilee is a celebration of a king or queen’s life and service, which takes place at regular intervals of a monarch’s reign. Each one is associated with a different precious metal; silver (25 years), ruby (40 years), golden (50 years), diamond (60 years), sapphire (65 years), and platinum (70 years). The Queen is the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum jubilee, which marks 70 years of service.

Here on funeral-notices.co.uk we like to spotlight a different charity every month in one of our blogs. On last month’s blog a user of funeral-notices.co.uk left us a comment suggesting that we spotlight MS Society and all the great work that they do, so we thought that we would do just that.

Richard is also involved in writing blogs published to funeral-notices.co.uk. You can check out one of his recent articles here. A keen writer, he has even written a couple of articles for Reach Plc on his favourite subject - comic books. Richard is a huge fan of comic books, having been reading and collecting them for about 18 years - he even has his own Instagram account dedicated to the comic books he owns.

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Richard also loves to watch all the Marvel movies and TV shows. The rest of his time is spent with his family, in particular his farm obsessed 3 year old, Sonny.

During the pandemic, deaths were commonly being reported by the media as merely a number or a statistic, and it became almost too easy for them to forget that behind every number was an individual person with their own likes, dislikes, hobbies, and friends. A funeral can be a time when we remember the individual by playing their favourite music, sharing our favourite memories of them, or just looking over old pictures of their happiest times. Now there is even the option of having a personalised coffin that really shows off their personality, and we thought we would share a few of our favourites with you here.

Planning a funeral for a loved one who has passed away can be an extremely difficult thing to do, especially at such an emotional time. It can be difficult to know where to start, so here is a quick guide on what you need to do and the various options available. It is important to ask for help from friends and family where possible. Help and support from loved ones can make a huge difference, and make the planning a little bit easier for you.

Neil Jefferson has been with Reach Plc for eight years now. He came to work with the Contact Centre under Darren Minns as a Designer, responsible for print and digital advertising design. Neil's skills came into their own when it came to launching our own platform for family notices, funeral-notices.co.uk. Neil is responsible for the look of the site and worked closely with Darren and others on the concept from the original idea through to the launch. He continues to be an integral part of the development of the website. Neil now works as part of the Commercial Marketing Team for Reach Plc under Nick Copson. Neil is a big football supporter, Hull City mainly but he watches all football. He has been coaching football for 10 plus years too. When he is not watching sport he loves watching TV shows, sci-fi and murder mystery being his favourite genres. Neil also collects Lego, and in the past has made his own custom sets.

It can sometimes be difficult to express your feelings when writing a memoriam notice for a loved one who has passed away. There are many verses and poems that can be used if you’re struggling to find the right words. Here are 10 popular verses that can be used in memoriam notices:

No one sees the broken heart That lies behind the smile, No one knows the loneliness That’s with us all the while. No matter how life changes, No matter what I do, A special place within my heart Is always there for you. Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am a diamond glint of snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awake in the morning hush, I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circling flight, I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand by my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die. In our hearts you will always stay, Loved and remembered every day. Your presence I miss, your memory I treasure, Loving you always, forgetting you never. Remembering you is easy, I do it every day, Missing you is a heartache that never goes away. Our hearts still ache with sadness, Secret tears still flow, What it meant to lose you No one will ever know. We think about you often, We talk about you still, You haven’t been forgotten, You know you never will. There’s a face that’s always with us, There’s a voice we long to hear, There’s a smile we always remember Of the one we loved so dear. I hold you close within my heart and there you will remain, To walk with me throughout my life until we meet again. If tears could build a stairway, And memories a lane, I’d walk right up to Heaven And bring you back again.

Thank you for reading. If you now want to go ahead and create your own Memoriam notice, then click on the button below to get started.

Kristina 'Tina' Cartmell is one of our longest serving colleagues, having been with the media group (now owned by Reach Plc) for some 35 years. When not at work, Tina loves eating out (or anything to do with food), socialising, walking her dog, spending time with family and holidays. Tina is just beginning to learn how to play golf.