A decade after its original opening, Co-op funeral care in Southbourne has officially renamed their chapel. Their anniversary event was on Wednesday, where the chapel was officially reopened and blessed.
Buzz news spoke to funeral director Peter Luff about the event and the 10 years they’ve put in.
“We are celebrating our tenth anniversary of being here in Southbourne, and to mark the event we are holding our chapel renaming day.”
The event was very community focused. The funeral home wanted to make people more aware of their presence on the high street.
Their overall aim was to bring together members of the community. They successfully did this through their competition to choose a new name for the chapel.
Luff told Buzz: “It [the name] has been chosen by a community member and we did this as we didn’t want a corporate name to be added to our chapel”
“A gentleman by the name Adrian chose the name the Grove”
The name, revealed during the event, represents the local area and the community.
It is also a reflection of the Funeral homes history. The Home is located on Southbourne Grove.
“The winning person will be presented with a hamper for their input into choosing the name”
Another strive for community involvement was through dignitaries in attendance.
“The person that opened it was a gentleman by the name of John Adams. He was the mayor 10 years ago and he agreed to come back and reopen the chapel.”
There were many locals there to celebrate the occasion and a priest who blessed the chapel.
Luff told Buzz that prior to the event their relationship with the community was: “reasonably good. We can do better and that’s what we’re working on at the moment.”
However this event was a step in the right direction.
“We exceeded our expectations”
Before the event Luff shared how they hoped to bring more awareness to the home.
“People tend to just walk past and not realise we’re here”
The event “gave it [the funeral home] a more positive image”
Despite the day being successful, the funeral home is far from done. To continue to get the community involved, they are already planning more events
“We are planning an open day on the 19th November which enables us to invite other community members into the funeral home to discuss with us and look at what we do.”
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