The men reading poetry at Dundee's lonely funerals

Andy Jackson is piloting a project in Dundee to give dignity to lonely funerals

When there's a eulogy to be written and read, poet Andy Jackson is the one his family call upon.

The 57-year-old has spoken at funerals for his mother and father, as well as a close friend who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).

It's a tough undertaking, he says, to deliver comforting words that adequately summarise the length and breadth of a life at a time of personal grief.

But it's one he believes every person deserves - whether or not they die alone.

Andy is piloting a project in Dundee that aims to give a personal farewell to people who would otherwise have no one at their funerals.

Often they are people who are older with no family left, but occasionally it can be the result of a disorientating illness or people who have moved from other countries alone.

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Using what information is available about the individual, be it a photograph or a passport, Andy has written poetry that captures something about their life or character.

"I feel everybody deserves something humane at the end of life" he said. "Nobody should be completely unmourned.

"If we want to live in humane country these are little things we can do for people. It becomes the job of the community."

Andy first heard about the idea of attending "lonely funerals" after speaking to a writer from the Netherlands during a poetry festival in St Andrews.

They described how many people arrive in cities like Amsterdam, Brussels and Antwerp, but their kin cannot be traced - commonly among drug addicts and sex workers.

Poets providing pieces of writing in order to dignify funerals has been popularised in these areas for the last 20 years, he said.

"They would have a passport, some details from the police or from social services, a photograph or some information about their life maybe," he said.

"Something that would give away something of who they were that a poet then could use to form the basis of a piece of work that would actually celebrate the real person - not somebody you couldn't identify."

'We're starting small'

After meeting Dundee celebrant Michael Hannah, Andy decided to bring the practice to Scotland.

They took advice from mental health project Lapidus Scotland - which also deals with funerals of those left alone - and formed the Lonely Funerals Project.

They eventually hope to expand the effort across Scotland, including rural areas.

Andy added: "Urban areas tend to be where people get forgotten and marginalised but actually rural areas as well - it's quite easy to die without anyone knowing, certainly in parts of the remote areas of Scotland.

"It would be a national project in our wildest dreams but at the moment we're starting small and seeing how we can get it to work in Dundee."