Useful Links
At Chiltern Woodland Burial Park we will be happy to work with the funeral director of your choice. We are also happy to help families who prefer to make arrangements themselves, although we recommend that guidance is obtained from an organisation such as the Natural Death Centre (see details below)
If you are looking for a funeral director to assist you we would recommend you contact one of the professional associations - either the National Association of Funeral Directors (www.nafd.org.uk) or the Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (www.saif.org.uk) - both of which have a list of members available online. We are associate members of both organisations.
Bereavement Support
If you are looking for bereavement support, there are links below to some of the organisations dedicated to helping people who are grieving:
Cruse Bereavement Care exists to promote the well-being of bereaved people and to enable anyone bereaved by death to understand their grief and cope with their loss. The organisation provides counselling and support. It offers information, advice, education and training services.
The Compassionate Friends is an organisation of bereaved parents and their families offering understanding, support and encouragement to others after the death of a child or children.
The National Association of Widows is run by widows, for widows, offering comfort, friendship and a listening ear to widows and unmarried women who have lost a partner through bereavement.
SANDS (Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Society) support anyone affected by the death of a baby and
promote research to reduce the loss of babies' lives.
Babyloss is a UK-based resource of information and support for bereaved parents and their families who have lost a baby at any stage of pregnancy, at birth, or due to neonatal death .
Winston’s Wish offer practical support and guidance to families, professionals and anyone concerned about a grieving child.
The Child Bereavement Charity provides specialised support, information and training for all those affected both when a child dies, and when a child is bereaved of someone important in their lives.
Links to other organisations that may be of interest for people considering funeral arrangements
The Natural Death Centre is an educational charity founded in 1991 to parallel the natural childbirth movement.
The Centre aims to make death and dying an unexceptional topic for daily meditation and conversation. It provides advice and information and acts as a consumers association. It publishes a wide number of publications, including the invaluable Natural Death Handbook. It offers a helpline (Mon-Fri, during office hours) and can help people arrange DIY, inexpensive and green funerals, supplies living wills, runs courses and offers counselling.
If I Should Die is a website dedicated to providing as much practical information and support as possible, aimed at everyone, whether they are considering their own death, coping with the death of a loved one, or just needing some comforting words to help write a letter to a bereaved friend or family member.
Other organisations
B.B.O.W.T. (Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust)
Our local Wildlife Trust. We have been a corporate member of BBOWT since we opened in 2009, and fully support the valuable work that is done by them.
An online directory dedicated to promoting a natural lifestyle, and provide resources for people from all walks of life, who understand that the food we eat, health choices we make, homes we live in, products we use and the respect we show for the natural world around us, all affect us on a physical, emotional & spiritual level.
An online directory for all things green, clean and ethical. GreenFinder aims to provide all the information you need to make those all important steps (big or small) for a cleaner, greener and more ethical world.