Roger-Lloyd Pack - Trigger Opts for a Green Coffin

Only Fools and Horses Actor

A few weeks ago, we noticed that the coffin on one of the most watched TV moments of the year (Hayley Cropper from Coronation Street's funeral) featured a eco-friendly, biodegradable coffin. 

Today, one of the nation's favourite actors was laid to rest, and opted for a funeral that was out-of-the ordinary. 

Playing the lovable, but often confused Trigger on the BBC's Only Fools and Horses, Roger Lloyd-Pack was known to millions, and recently sadly lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. 

He arrived at the church in Covent Garden in a pink hearse, in a light willow, wicker coffin. Caring Coffins' goal has always been to help people organise the funeral they want, and we were glad that Lloyd-Pack was able to build this individualtity into his funeral. 

Our thoughts are of course with his family. He has left a truly memorable legacy.

RIP Roger 'Trigger' Lloyd-Pack

Alex Wilcox is Founder of Caring Coffins

www.caringcoffins.com

Hayley Cropper Funeral - An Eco-Friendly Coronation Street Burial

Hayley Cropper's Coronation Street Funeral

An Eco-Friendly Soap Burial

I'm not an avid viewer (if anything I actively try and avoid it) but sometimes you just can't avoid Coronation... 

Normally I'm pretty successfully at blocking out the love affairs, the dramatic deaths, and pre-watershed, profanity-free arguments. However the other night Coronation Street was on and there was no escaping it. And this story line has been the focus of much media attention.

Hayley Cropper made waves when she became the first transgender character is UK soap history, and in her death she also sparked debate. As mentioned, I'm not a big fan of soaps in general, but I do think they stimulate conversation on divisive subjects. In the case of Hayley, that subject was assisted suicide.

Over 9.7 million people tuned in to watch her final episode, and the critical and political reviews have been glowing. However it wasn't her life story, her gender status, or the manner of her death that caught my attention, it was her funeral.

Having an interest and involvement in coffins and funerals, I am always keen to see how the media portrays them, versus my experience of the reality. Most TV programs go for a funeral-by-numbers approach of the mourners in black, somber hymns, and a dark wooden coffin. However Hayley's funeral was a much more humanist affair. There was no vicar, no mention of God, the mourners wore colourful outfits, and the coffin was environmentally-friendly.

The fact that she chose a cardboard coffin, and it barely even registers as being out-of-the-ordinary shows how far Britain has come in accepting green funerals. It is no longer the preserve of eco-warriors and alternative types. People now realise how beautiful, dignified, and caring a green coffin can be.

Before her death Hayley had a wish for her burial that was really quite poetic. You know, maybe soaps aren't so bad after all.

“She wanted to melt back into the earth she said, be recycled by nature”

HAYLEY CROPPER

Alex Wilcox is Founder of Caring Coffins

www.caringcoffins.com