Crematorium celebrates 25 years of serving local families

Funeral Directors and other guests joined the team at Basildon and District Cemetery & Crematorium to commemorate 25 years of serving local families.

A special service was conducted by Reverend David Coster, who has been a familiar face at the crematorium since the first week it opened, in April 1998.

During the day he dedicated a tree which had been planted to mark a quarter-of-a-century of service to the local communities.

Crematorium Assistant Zoe Medcalf spoke passionately about the sad personal circumstances that first brought her to Basildon Crematorium but how her experience of care and compassion shown to her by staff led to her joining them in 2018.

Basildon and District Cemetery & Crematorium is part of Westerleigh Group, one of the UK’s largest independent owners and operators of crematoria and cemeteries, with 37 sites in England, Scotland and Wales, all set within beautifully-landscaped gardens of remembrance which provide pleasant, peaceful places for people to visit and reflect.

It quickly established a deserved reputation for providing exceptional care as it sought to become the crematorium of choice for local families to hold funeral services for their loved ones.

It proved so popular that a second chapel was opened at the site in 2019, which not only increased capacity but also enabled intervals between services to be extended, which meant each service could last 40 minutes.

The cemetery was opened in 2007, offering a choice of lawn graves or traditional burial plots.

Basildon and District Cemetery & Crematorium manager Adam Mayers said: “I would like to pay tribute to all the staff members, past and present, who have worked here over the past 25 years.

“They have played a big role in helping families at what is a very sad and difficult time, consistently providing compassionate care and exceptional levels of service.

“Over the past quarter-of-a-century, Basildon and District Cemetery & Crematorium has had the honour of looking after more than 50,000 families who chose for their loved one to be cremated or buried here, and we have many loved ones resting within our lovely grounds.

“It is a real privilege to be part of this community and I hope that we can continue to be valued members of the local community, and we look forward to serving the families and loved ones from our neighbouring communities for many, many, years to come.

To find out more about Basildon and District Cemetery & Crematorium, and the exceptional care it provides, click here.