Names, relationships and identity
We will use the names, pronouns and descriptions people ask us to use. We will not make assumptions about who matters to someone, how people are related or which relationships should be recognised.
How we work
Equalities Statement
We want everyone who comes into contact with Poetic Endings to be treated fairly, thoughtfully and with respect.
That applies to the people arranging funerals, the people who attend them, the people who work with us and the people who have died.
Our commitment
Everyone should be able to use our services fairly
We do not discriminate unlawfully, directly or indirectly, because of a protected characteristic. We also take seriously our responsibility to avoid harassment and victimisation and to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people.
Equality is not simply a statement about who we welcome. It affects how we communicate, how we make arrangements, how we care for the person who has died and how we work with the people involved in a funeral.
Read the Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010
Protected characteristics
The Equality Act 2010 identifies nine protected characteristics. We will not treat someone less favourably because of any of them.
Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation
What this means in practice
Respect should be visible in the way we work
We try not to make assumptions about people, relationships, beliefs or what a funeral is supposed to look like.
Religion, belief and culture
We work with religious, non-religious and mixed-belief funerals. We will listen to the customs, practices and time-sensitive requirements that matter and explain what can be arranged.
Care of the person who has died
We will listen to wishes about clothing, presentation, personal care and religious or cultural practices. We will treat a person’s identity and choices with the same consideration after death as we would during life.
Communication
People take in information differently, particularly after a death. We can explain things again, put information in writing, use telephone or video calls, and adapt how we communicate where reasonably possible.
Beyond the legal minimum
Our commitment is broader than a list of protected characteristics
We want our services to be welcoming to people with different lives, backgrounds and ways of communicating. That includes people who are neurodivergent, people living with HIV, people with mental or physical health conditions, and people whose circumstances do not fit conventional assumptions about relationships, households or funerals.
We will listen first and ask what would make the process work better for you.
Accessibility
Reasonable adjustments
If a disability or health condition affects how you access our service, please tell us what would help. You do not need to use particular language or provide a diagnosis before asking us to consider an adjustment.
Communication
We can consider different ways of communicating or sharing information where this would remove a barrier.
Meetings and visits
We can discuss adjustments to meetings, appointments and visits to our funeral home, including alternatives where a particular arrangement is not accessible.
The funeral itself
We will work with venues and other suppliers to identify accessibility needs and practical adjustments wherever reasonably possible.
If something is not right
Please tell us
If you feel that we have misunderstood something important about you, failed to make a reasonable adjustment, or treated you unfairly, we want to know.
You can raise a concern with us at any stage. We will take it seriously, look at what happened and respond to you.
Contact Poetic Endings
Poetic Endings · London
Is there something you need us to know?
If there is an adjustment, belief, practice, identity or communication need that would help us work with you better, please tell us. We would rather know than make assumptions.