Family Tree Funeral Company

09/06/2026

There is something quietly profound about the fact that natural burial grounds are places where life thrives. 🌱

We've been thinking about this lately - and revisiting a story from our blog about a frog found at the bottom of a grave just before a funeral. A small, unexpected moment of life in a place we might only associate with loss. 🐸

Natural burial allows us to give something back. The grave becomes part of a living landscape - wildflowers, grasses, insects, birds. A place that, over time, belongs to nature as much as to memory.🌸

It's one of the reasons we are proud to be corporate supporters of the Stroud Valleys Project, working to protect and restore the wildlife and wild places of our local area.

Read "Life in the Grave" on our website news page:
👉 https://www.familytreefunerals.co.uk/2017/11/06/life-in-the-grave/

🌱

04/06/2026

A nurse in Gloucestershire is asking keen sewers to make fabric bags - so that no bereaved family ever has to carry their loved one's belongings home in an old plastic bag. 👩‍⚕️

Debbie Williams, who works for Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, knows from personal experience how impersonal and clinical that can feel. Since 2022, volunteers have been sewing simple fabric bags to replace them - and it has made a real difference to families. ❤️‍🩹

Now stocks are running low, and she's putting out the call again.

It's a small thing. And it's everything. ⭐

This kind of care and compassion - in the quiet, practical details of how we treat people at the end of life - is exactly what we believe in at Family Tree Funerals. Dignity doesn't begin and end with the funeral. It runs through each part of life.

If you sew, take a look - the pattern is available via Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Trust on Facebook and we've also added it to our linktree bio. 🪡

01/06/2026

We're so grateful for this recent testimonial from a Family Tree family. It means the world to know our care, guidance and attention to detail helped create a funeral that felt meaningful and special at a difficult time.

🌟You can find all recent reviews via the link in our instagram linktree or within our page links.🌟

familytreefunerals.co.uk
🙏🙏🙏

28/05/2026

We absolutely love this kind of care and compassion initiated by Debbie Williams Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust - it's a small thing - and it's everything.

During Dying Matters Week in 2022 we put out a request for sewers to help create a stock of fabric ‘property bags’ so that our hospital colleagues had something dignified to use to give personal belongings back to family members of a deceased relative.
The response was heartwarming with lots of beautifully sewn bags in wonderful materials arriving at the Trust.
Those are now running low, and End of Life Lead Debbie Williams is hoping that sewing enthusiasts will again pull out their needles to help us replenish our stock.
She said: “These property bags have been hugely welcomed both by our staff and by relatives. They represent kindness and sympathy at a very difficult time.
“We were incredibly grateful for the response when we first appealed for them – I’d love to allow colleagues across the Trust to continue using them by having some more created.”
Dying Matters Awareness Week runs from May 4-10 and aims to help people talk about dying and grief and to plan for the end of life. More on the week can be found on the Hospice UK website here.
Bag-making instructions are available for download on our website (link in comments) if you’d like to try making one, or more.
For more on End of Life care, Dying Matters Week or sewing of Property Bags you can email: [email protected]
Bags can be sent to End of Life Care, Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, Edward Jenner Court, 1010 Pioneer Avenue, Brockworth, Gloucester, GL3 4AW.

26/05/2026

Thinking about the future is not always easy, but it can be a thoughtful and helpful thing to do.

We've put together a Personal Funeral Planner to help you record your wishes, either for yourself or with family, friends or a group. It offers a simple place to note down the things that matter to you, and that can help make conversations about this part of life a little easier.

You can view and download your free copy on our website here:
https://www.familytreefunerals.co.uk/flipbook/my-funeral-plan/

Or find it via our Instagram link in "More about Us".

If you would like printed copies for a group, community setting or organisation, please email us at [email protected]

At Family Tree, we believe that planning ahead is not about being morbid - it is about being prepared, and giving yourself and those you care about a little more peace of mind.

23/05/2026

Have you seen the latest issue of the Nailsworth News? Delivered free to homes by a volunteer team ten times a year, it is worth keeping an eye out for and you can find out more here: https://www.nailsworthnews.org.uk/

📥The May issue included a piece about the Nailsworth Death Café. Jane Diamond, owner of Family Tree Funerals, has been hosting the Death Café with Tracey Clements every two months for the past 10 years, with gatherings held at The Canteen.

It was a pleasure to see this regular local event celebrated in print, and to see the photo from the latest Death Café (and its celebratory cake, made by Canteen staff) included too. If you would like to read the article, you can find the issue here:https://www.nailsworthnews.org.uk/issues/pdfs/261_NN_May_2026.pdf or via our linktree bio.🤓

20/05/2026

Join Nailsworth Death Cafe next week!

☕ A Death Café is a not-for-profit gathering where people come together to talk openly about death, dying and everything in between – over tea, cake and kind conversation. There's no agenda, no speaker and no selling; just a relaxed, safe space to explore a topic that touches us all.

☕ The idea began with Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz's Café Mortel in 2004 and was brought to the UK by Jon Underwood in 2011, whose family continue to support the global Death Café movement today.

☕ Death Cafés now take place all over the world, offering ordinary people the chance to share experiences, ask questions and gently normalise conversations about mortality. It isn't a counselling or bereavement group, but you're warmly welcome if you are bereaved.

☕ In Nailsworth, the Death Café is co-hosted by volunteers Jane Diamond and Tracey Clements every two months at:

📍The Canteen, Nailsworth, GL6 0DU - where it's been running for over 10 years.

⏰Wednesday 27th May, 7.30–9.15pm (arrive a little earlier to buy a drink).

💚Free to attend, no need to book – just turn up

☕ To find out more about the Death Café movement visit or its website (also on our linktree), or contact Jane using the details on the poster.

12/05/2026

🍃Jane from Family Tree and Nicola from Simply Crafted Ceremonies hosted a relaxed evening as part of week. ‘What Matters in the End - Funeral Options for the 21st Century’ brought us together to listen, learn & discuss while fundraising for 🍃



Familytreefunerals.co.uk
Simplycraftedceremonies.co.uk

08/05/2026

We are sharing some of the upcoming events by Sunshine Su***de Support. They are holding a Lunch Group on 11 May, 12–2pm at Prinknash Abbey Cafe, Cranham, Gloucester GL4 8EX. A chance to meet others, share a meal and spend time in a supportive space.

They also offer regular peer support groups across the region, including Art Club, Lunch Club and Storms Walks - contact them to find out more and join in.
https://www.sunflowerssu***desupport.org.uk/peer-support-groups
And don’t forget to take a look at their website for details of their fundraising Masquerade Ball on 16 May.

https://www.sunflowerssu***desupport.org.uk/ball

***desupport Sunflowers Su***de Support ***de

07/05/2026

For Dying Matters Awareness Week we wanted to reshare this interview between • and his former tutor Dr Sarah Brabant- it’s beautiful. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

“Here is a lesson in living from my death and dying professor, who is now living the lesson she taught for decades. Thank you, Dr. Sarah Brabant.”