People often have not heard the term “direct cremation”, but by now most people in the UK will know a friend or relative who has had a direct cremation.

Direct cremation is a simple funeral where there is no service at the crematorium. The deceased person is collected and cared for by us until date of cremation then taken privately to the crematorium. The committal is observed by our team. The ashes can then be Interred, collected or delivered back to you.

Caledonia Cremation specialises in direct cremation only. We offer the same dignified service to every single person. Equal for everyone.

A direct cremation has no service to attend at the crematorium. Often people do organise a service or celebration separately, normally on another day, perhaps with the ashes. We can assist you to plan such a ceremony held away from the crematorium. Our team and the crematorium staff observe every committal at the crematorium. You will be told the date of the cremation and called on the day afterwards if you wish.

Keep it simple. Call us today on 03000 113 311. You can call 24/7 if it is urgent. Or if it is less urgent book a time for us to call back online here. Our phone number is either free or the same as a local number, depending on your phone provider. You can also get in touch by email. We normally answer the phone anytime 24/7, but if you call outside working hours you may be asked to leave a message and someone will get back to you.

Caledonia Cremation uses the award winning Clyde Coast & Garnock Valley Crematorium . All crematorium fees are included in our price, these are the biggest single cost we have. We are so proud to work with Clyde Coast and Garnock Valley crematorium. It is one of the most peaceful and modern crematoria in the country and is a compassionate business which shares many of our values. They are in the heart of a beautiful upland park, a tree is planted there for every funeral we arrange with them. Click here to see their website and images of their site. You will be getting the same excellent service as anyone else using the crematorium. Some photos of the crematorium including where the coffin gets set out for a direct cremation are shown below.

We cover most of mainland Scotland*. We are available for people in: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, Stirling, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyllshire, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Lothian, Highland, Inverclyde, Moray, Lanarkshire, Kinross, Scottish Borders and Fife.
*We do our best to cover most of mainland Scotland, but there may be occasions where our colleagues are not available. On this occasion we will help you source an alternative funeral director who aligns with our values and will provide you with the funeral you require.

We are absolutely happy to speak to anyone who is bereaved, happy to help those in financial hardship. We ask that these general enquiries are by email or during the opening times of our general advice line 03000 11 33 01 rather than our 24/7 urgent funeral line 03000 11 33 11. The general advice line is typically available during working hours but we have some volunteer-led hours and sometimes need to close this line due to high demand or low staff availablity. You can always look at our guidance and advice on our other website https://funeral.scot

You'll need to register the death with the local council registrar. You'll need to do this within eight days but it is typical that this is done quite quickly. You can find out more about how to do this in your area here: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/registration/registering-a-death/ . You will be given a Form 14 which we also require, but we can start the arrangements before you have this. You will need a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) to Register the Death and we need to know you have one of these or one going to be written, before we can make a collection of the deceased person. If the death was at home or in a nursing home a GP or doctor needs to issue this (people normally call their GP emergency number or the 111 service if they don't already have 999 paramedics on site), in some cases there is a delay as a postmortem or similar will need to be arranged but the GP will start that process. In a hospital setting you should ask staff about their process and contact a funeral director when they recommend it as they will ensure the MCCD is being arranged. The system in England is different. Just ask us if you need help, we know it is complicated in some cases.

Most people will be able to pay the whole cost upfront and we do encourage everyone to do that if they can afford it. But we have heard many terrible stories of other funeral directors refusing to work with people in poverty or on benefits. We are not like that. We will start arranging your funeral today as long as you have a plan for how you might pay, including if you need help applying for funeral benefits. Just speak to us honestly and we can try to help.

We help many bereaved families to claim various funeral benefits and often to look for unusual extra grants you may be entitled to. The main benefit for this in Scotland is Funeral Support Payment. For those arranging a funeral with us who get full Funeral Support Payment this will almost always cover the whole payment leaving nothing you need to pay yourself. Just ask and we can help.