Only one in nine people has made their funeral wishes known to their family, according to new research.
While 70 percent say they are comfortable discussing death, just 35 percent have made a will and only 11 percent have written down their funeral wishes. The research was conducted by Dying Matters, a group that aims to change attitudes towards death.
Dying Matters is also launching a social media campaign to raise awareness which will carry the Twitter hashtag #Yodo – you only die once.
Many of the people who have made plans for their final bow are customising their funerals.
Crazy Coffins, a Nottingham-based firm, has made caskets in the shape of a guitar and a Rolls-Royce. It is now working on a replica of a Jack Daniel’s bottle.
Malcolm Brocklehurst, 79, is among the growing number shunning traditional funerals. He has chosen the music, the venue and even carried out a rehearsal.
The former aeronautical worker has commissioned an aeroplane-shaped coffin painted in tangerine, the colour of his beloved Blackpool Football Club.
“We had a dress rehearsal where I went in a white sheet as the ghost of myself so I could see how it would work.”
Dominic Maguire, a Glasgow funeral director, said: “We had a Star Wars-themed funeral. Mourners carried the coffin dressed as Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi.” – Daily Mail