Cloverfield Funeral Services are a first generation family-run funeral directors based in Bradford West Yorkshire offering quality, affordable funeral care in Bradford, Keighley, Leeds and the surrounding areas.
We pride ourselves in ensuring your requirements will be met with efficiency, respect and dignity - whether you desire the simplest of funerals or an elaborate service.
You may have a specific request for a funeral, such as a horse drawn carriage, a motorcycle hearse or a piper. Whatever your request, we will attend to it if at all possible, because we believe a funeral should be as individual as the life that went before it.
We are able to arrange funerals for many cultures and nationalities within the area, including Hindu and Sikh services.
We are available 24 hours, 365 days a year. Our caring service starts the moment you make contact with us.
How You Can Help...
Seven practical suggestions if your friend or relative has recently been bereaved.
- 1. Make a special effort to keep in contact after the funeral
- It may be tempting to stay away, as you probably don't know what to say, but visits and telephone calls are essential.
- 2. Be a good listener
- Try not to steer the conversation yourself but let the bereaved person talk about what they want. Allow, even encourage, him or her to talk about the person who has died and listen attentively. This may be difficult for both of you but it will help your friend to come to terms with the death. Do not mind if your friend cries, or even if you cry yourself, it’s perfectly natural.
- 3. Remember the importance of touch
- Bereaved people often feel isolated and it may help to put your arm around them, touch their shoulder or elbow, or hold their hands. Clearly you need to use your discretion but touch can be a very effective way of affirming friendship.
- 4. Avoid making assumptions about how your friend will feel
- All bereavements are different. Don't assume that your friend feels the same as you did when you were bereaved, and avoid saying “I know how you feel” as this may belittle their loss. Encourage your friend to express his or her feelings and try to accept that they are valid. For example a bereaved person might feel worried, angry, guilty or even relieved. Try to understand your friend’s feelings, rather than say that they are wrong.
- 5. Offer practical help
- If you can see that your friend needs help then offer help, or suggest where help can be obtained. Don't wait to be asked. It is better to suggest a specific task e.g. shopping. However, be prepared to accept that your offer of help may be declined. You can always help in some other way or at another time. Be careful not to take over. Your friend should stay in control at all times.
- 6. Refer to the professionals if necessary
- If you notice a serious problem which seems to be persisting longer than it should, e.g. over-use of alcohol, drugs, serious self-neglect, malnutrition, complete inertia or violent mood swings, you could express your worries to your friend’s doctor or, if they belong to a religious group, their minister, priest etc. The professional will listen, and may be able to help, but remember that they have a duty of confidentiality to your friend.
- 7. Allow plenty of time
- Grieving is a process which changes over weeks, months and years, but your support will still be valuable during this time. Anniversaries such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries and the anniversary of the death will be particularly difficult for your friend. It will help if you are aware of them.
