Funeral director-backed charity launched nationally in Parliament

An inclusive Dorset charity supported by Douch Family Funeral Directors has taken its message to Parliament – where it was launched nationally.

Growing Compassionate Communities was founded by pioneer minister Peter Jones and recently, along with Emma Regan from Douch Family Funeral Directors and MP Michael Tomlinson, he headed to the Palace of Westminster.

There, Jones outlined the charity and the work it does to promote the inclusion of everyone in society. These include LGBT people, ex-offenders, those with mental health issues, drug users, alcoholics and people with dementia.

Former MP Dame Annette Brooke is a patron and the charity is designed to create compassionate communities by engaging and reintegrating vulnerable and marginalised groups.

Jones said: “Growing Compassionate Community is primarily about a community working towards inclusiveness of all diverse groups and peoples. This concept seeks to grow communities that are compassionate and that seek to include groups on the margins of the community by becoming sensitive to their needs.

“A community may include rural and urban settings as well as prison communities. To be able to take the charity out of Dorset to Westminster for a national launch shows how much scope there is. And I’m delighted to have the support of Michael Tomlinson, Annette Brooke and all our backers including Douch Family Funeral Directors.”

Emma Regan from the funeral group added: “We have been working with Peter for a number of years and it’s great to see how well this charity is doing. There are lots of practical ways that individuals and businesses can help; for example in our company we’ve been trained in dementia awareness and it’s really made a difference.”