Firm steps in to give 'hero' paramedic his funeral

Bob Lee was a paramedic in Staffordshire for four decades

A company has stepped in to hold a funeral for a paramedic after the firm he had a pre-paid plan with collapsed.

Bob Lee, a retired paramedic who served Staffordshire Ambulance Service for four decades, had paid for his and his wife's funerals with Safe Hands, which went bust in 2022.

His daughter Rachel believed her family was £7,500 out of pocket.

She said she was "blown away" after a worker from Jennifer Ashe & Son Funeral Directors spotted their fundraiser to cover the costs of the service and offered its help.

Ms Lee found her father dead at his home in Brownhills, Walsall, on 4 December.

She described him previously as "everybody’s friend, brother, hero" and said "they don’t make them like him anymore".

His wife Carol, 68, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2017 and had lived in a care home since.

Bob Lee paid more than £7,000 to Safe Hands to finance his and his wife's funerals, before the company went bust

A fundraiser was launched to raise costs for Mr Lee's funeral by one of his colleagues.

It was seen by a worker with Jennifer Ashe & Son and they approached Ms Lee with an offer to help cover a large part of the funeral arrangements.

“I would encourage others to check their pre-paid funeral plans as soon as possible, to ensure they are prepared for any eventuality," she said.

"It should not be down to the goodwill of local, family-run funeral directors to help recoup the cost of funeral plans that have been fairly paid for, for a number of years, by honest, hard-working individuals like my father.”

Bob Lee, pictured with wife Carol, died in December

Joe Evans, from the firm, said: "When we spotted the fundraiser for Bob, we knew we could step in and help alleviate some of the burden that was on Rachael and her family, due to the collapse of Safe Hands."

Mr Lee's funeral will be held later this month at Lichfield District Crematorium.

Rachael Lee described her father as a “hero"

Funeral plans are designed to allow people to set money aside during their lives, to help their families pay for a funeral when they die.

Safe Hands collapsed in March 2022, throwing 46,000 customers' contracts into doubt.

Its collapse meant pre-paid funerals might not be honoured, with some people paying in instalments of up to £4,000.

Ms Lee was told she would not get any money back as the plans had been paid before regulations covering funeral firms were introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority in 2022.

In October 2023, the Serious Fraud Office said it was investigating a suspected fraud at the company and its parent, SHP Capital Holdings Ltd.