Basildon Crematorium offers the funerals of the future - today

Basildon and District Cemetery & Crematorium can now offer bereaved families the chance to experience the funerals of the future, today, thanks to state-of-the-art technology. 

It is the second crematorium in the world to be transformed into a ‘super venue’, enabling the bereaved to make funerals more uniquely personal than ever before. 

Its Riverview Chapel has been fitted out with state-of-the-art technology which creates immersive, uniquely personal funeral service experiences. 

Mourners can now be greeted by an image of their loved one on the chapel’s external welcome screens. 

In the waiting room, there is an option to display a gallery-style showcase of treasured photographs, providing a quiet space for reflection and remembrance before the service. 

Inside the chapel, mourners will find themselves surrounded by a beautifully-curated immersive theme as selected by the family, projected onto the entire front wall of the chapel - canvas - and accompanied by harmoniously co-ordinated soundscapes and lighting. 

This technology enables families to choose unprecedented levels of personalisation for their loved one’s funeral, to truly reflect the individuality, interests and passions of the person being remembered. 

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 41 sites in England, Scotland, and Wales, and which is trusted by more families than any other provider to deliver funerals for their loved ones. 

It is set within beautifully landscaped gardens of remembrance and cemetery which provide peaceful places for people to visit and reflect, while benefiting from exceptional care and support from its teams. 

The innovative experience is the result of a partnership between Westerleigh Group and the UK’s leading audio-visual provider to the bereavement industry, Obitus. 

Last November, Basildon’s sister-site Gedling Crematorium, in Nottinghamshire, became the first in the world to offer the immersive funeral experience and 99% of families who have held services there since have chosen to have a canvas wall or elements of it as part of their event. 

Debbie Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Westerleigh Group, said: “We’ve always been committed to making the services we host as uniquely personal as possible, which is also an ambition of our partners at Obitus. 

“Now, thanks to their research and development, our shared vision has become a reality, and we’re extremely pleased to be able to offer the funerals of the future to the bereaved communities in Essex, London and beyond, transforming the way they say their final farewells.” 

Adam Mayers, Manager at Basildon and District Cemetery & Crematorium added: “From seasonal and landscape canvas walls to full football stadium backdrops, a wide variety of themes are available — each with options to be tailored personally, ensuring the display is uniquely meaningful to the individual being honoured.” 

“Families only need to tell their funeral director what theme they’d like and we’ll bring it all together for their loved one’s service.  

“It’s our privilege to support bereaved families in our local community and now, helping them honour their loved ones with a farewell service created in a way that isn’t currently available anywhere else locally.” 

For more information about Basildon and District Cemetery & Crematorium, the many services it offers – including the immersive canvas experiences - and the exceptional care and support provided by the team, can visit: www.basildoncrem.co.uk