Funeral home adds uncollected ashes to database

Matthew Lymn Rose says he feels a "deep sense of responsibility and duty of care" for his customers

A funeral home has added the details of 136 forgotten urns to an online database of uncollected ashes.

A.W. Lymn, based in the East Midlands, said the oldest in its collection dated back to 1952.

The organisation said its work was part of a bid to address the lack of formal regulation of abandoned ashes.

The funeral industry estimates that there are hundreds of thousands of unclaimed urns sitting in businesses across the UK.

A.W. Lymn, which has sites in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire, said they had uploaded information of all cremated remains in their possession since before 2000 to The Ashes Register, an initiative designed to map the location of scattered ashes.

The option to find lost ashes is a new element to the website, with the East Midlands company being the first funeral directors to use its register.

'Sense of responsibility'

Matthew Lymn Rose, managing director at the funeral home, said it is "saddening" to think that ashes are left uncollected.

"Sometimes, in the aftermath of a funeral, people can be in denial and taking possession of the ashes can be a hard thing to do," he said.

"In other instances, there is a breakdown in communication amongst a family as to who will collect them."

The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) recommends its members store ashes for at least five years, with efforts being made to locate the rightful recipient before a funeral company can dispose of them.

However, Mr Rose said he feels a "deep sense of responsibility and duty of care" for their customers and so often keep urns for much longer.

“We strongly believe that everyone deserves a final resting place, which is why we are so passionate about this new register," he said.

"We hope that by leading the way in adding our records, other funeral directors will follow suit and it will become best practice within the industry.”

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