Every year thousands of recently deceased people are buried not by their loved ones, but by their local council – often because they have no known family to make the arrangements. Who attends these funerals and how are they organized, asks the BBC Magazine.
Without hard figures, it is impossible to tell whether there is an upward trend in these lonely deaths. But what is clear is that with the break-down of many traditional families and an aging population, more people than ever are living alone.
He said to my wife: ‘In prison there is always someone you can talk to, you’re a somebody. Out here, you’re a nobody’
The Reverend Nick Martin
Michael had not dropped as far from sight as some.
While Michael was in prison, the Reverend Nick Martin, the prison chaplain who led the funeral, saw him every day. But that soon ended when he got out.
Shortly after his release, the Rev Martin’s wife saw Michael back on the streets, looking emaciated. She bought him pureed food normally eaten by the institutionalised elderly. Her small act of generosity touched Michael.
“He said to my wife: ‘In prison there is always someone you can talk to, you’re a somebody. Out here, you’re a nobody.'”
How are these deaths dealt with in your community?
Read it all here.