MuchLoved and Funeral Partners raise £5m for charity

Bereaved families have collectively raised more than £5m for charities in memory of loved ones through the help of online tribute platform MuchLoved and Funeral Partners, both of which began a partnership in 2015. Over 20,000 individual MuchLoved tribute pages have been created by Funeral Partners funeral homes on behalf of clients. Friends and family can contribute to these digital memorials, see funeral notice information and donate to charities or causes in memory of loved ones. More than 107,000 donations have been made to 1,662 charities over the past six years with the help of Funeral Partners’ funeral homes, with £389,744 being raised for Cancer Research UK, £229,698 going towards Woking and Sam Beare Hospices and £183,874 being donated to Alzhemier’s Society, followed closely by the British Heart Foundation receiving £182,392. Charities have particularly been supported through the pandemic, with £1.3m being raised by Funeral Partners clients and their friends and families in 2020 alone. Richard Baker, funeral partnerships manager at MuchLoved, said: “The £5m landmark is an incredible milestone to have surpassed and is testament to the hard work that is put in day after day by the teams within Funeral Partners. “Over the last 18 months the number of pages set up by Funeral Partners branches has increased dramatically and donations have more than doubled, as arrangers helped provide a way for the families they serve to connect with one another in the most testing of times." He added: “Being able to offer online donation services encompassing both bereavement support and the ability to manage Gift Aid donations helps families come together for their loved ones in these challenging times. “The income of our charity partners has suffered significantly over the last year as restrictions have caused the cancellation of most, if not all, of their traditional revenue sources.” Steph Dunst, regional engagement operations executive at Alzheimer’s Society, said: "In-memory fundraising has always been a crucial part of our fundraising efforts, but never more so in the last 18 months, as we saw other fundraising initiatives and events simply become wiped from the calendar. “The pages set up by Funeral Partners’ teams and managed by MuchLoved have provided the most appropriate place for our supporters to remember their loved ones, whilst providing vital funding for our services." Kelly Hailou, marketing director at Funeral Partners, said: “In February we hit a milestone with our families collectively raising more than £3m for charities through MuchLoved tribute pages. Now, just months later, that figure has jumped to £5m. “There’s no denying the comfort and sense of unity this online service brings families, especially after the last year-and-a-half of social distancing restrictions. We look forward to continuing to see our clients using this service and helping charities receive the much-needed donations in memory of lost loved ones.”