Vale Royal Crematorium’s gift to childhood cancer charity

A charity which has recently seen a record number of referrals has received a welcome donation from Vale Royal Crematorium in Cheshire.

The Joshua Tree, a charity based in Sandiway, provides valuable support to families affected by childhood cancers.

The organisation has received a £5,000 donation from Vale Royal Crematorium, which is part of Westerleigh Group, the UK’s largest owner and operator of crematoria and cemeteries, with 36 sites in England, Scotland, and Wales, all set within beautifully landscaped gardens of remembrance which provide pleasant, peaceful places for people to visit and reflect.             

Each crematorium within Westerleigh Group operates a metal recycling scheme whereby, with the consent of families, metals recovered during cremation are recycled and any funds raised through doing this is used to support local charities and other worthy organisations.

Vale Royal Crematorium Site Manager Dave Haslam presented a cheque for £5,000 to Helen Ritchie, from The Joshua Tree.

Dave said: “Our introduction to The Joshua Tree came via one of our local Funeral Directors, when we were asked to sponsor the flag he planned to take to the summit of Mount Elbrus in aid of the charity.

“Then last year, we had some additional funds available to make a smaller, independent, donation of £1,000 to the charity. This donation enabled me to speak to Helen from Joshua Tree and find out more about the work of their charity. This is when I also discovered that she has a family memorial at our site at Vale Royal Crematorium.

“Since our donation last year, we’ve gained much more in-depth understanding of the work and support they provide to family members during the traumatic experience of childhood cancer. It’s an honour to be able to give them another donation which I know will be put to very good use.

“The Joshua Tree is a small charity which has had a record number of referrals in a small time frame. We know that our donation will be a huge help to them and the families with a child with cancer.”

For anyone interested in finding out more about the charity, please contact Helen Ritchie at:

helenritchie@thejoshuatree.org.uk 

...to arrange a tour of the impressive new Support Centre.

To find out more about Vale Royal Crematorium, please visit:

www.valeroyalcrematorium.co.uk

Westerleigh Group is the UK’s largest independent owner-operator of crematoria and cemeteries, with 35 sites across England, Scotland and Wales, all set within beautifully-landscaped gardens of remembrance which provide pleasant, peaceful places for people to visit and reflect. Westerleigh’s core objective is to deliver exceptional care in a beautiful setting so that families can remember, mourn and celebrate the lives of their loved ones in a way that’s uniquely personal. The Group cares for more than 50,000 funerals every year.

In Autumn 2021 Westerleigh Group became the first crematorium authority in the UK to officially adopt the new Environmental Policy Statement introduced by the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities, which reinforces the group’s commitment to continually review and approve its activities, the products it uses and the services it offers in order to reduce the impact on the environment.

Pictured - Vale Royal Crem supports Joshua Tree charity.