Introducing the World’s First Mushroom Coffin

At The Natural Burial Company we are dedicated to providing personal celebrations of life and funeral services, whilst maximising our care for the environment. As such we are honoured to be able to now offer the world’s first mushroom coffin.

We are proud to announce our collaboration with Loop Biotech Loop Biotech – Let’s enrich nature and together we’re on a mission to enrich nature.

Loop Biotech’s products are grown in just 7 days from local mushrooms (mycelium) and upcycled hemp fibres. By using these innovative materials, we return nutrients to the earth and allow new life to flourish.

We’re incredibly proud of this collaboration and look forward to making a positive impact together with Loop Biotech. For further information please don’t hesitate to contact us on (0116) 222 0247 or [email protected]

Natural Funerals, Personal Service, Exceptional Value

The Sun Life Cost of Dying Report for 2025* has now been published. As with previous years this report provides worrying information regarding funeral costs. At The Natural Burial Company we believe in challenging high costs, and are dedicated to providing the best possible caring services at cost-effective prices.

In line of our ethos of care for the environment, care for the bereaved, and fighting funeral poverty, our team provide a range of funeral services for all. Personal service is key to everything we do and we will always help you to provide the best, most appropriate goodbye, you can have for your loved one.

According to the Sun Life report the average cost of a Burial in the UK in 2024 was £5,198. This compared to a complete full burial service, including plot and interment fees at our Prestwold (Loughborough) or Scraptoft Natural (Leicester) Burial Grounds from £2,990. A service at our Wrottesley Park Natural Burial Ground (Wolverhampton) is available from £3,170. These are extremely large savings for environmentally friendly services in beautiful locations Full Natural Burial – Direct Natural Funerals

The report also states that the average cost for a Direct Burial Service is £1,527 – this total excludes plot and interment fees. The Natural Burial Company provide a complete Direct Natural Burial Service, including plot and interment fees for £1,740 Direct Natural Burial – Direct Natural Funerals A Simple Natural Burial Service is also available, which includes a short service and up to 6 people attending for £2,250 Simple Natural Burial Service  – Direct Natural Funerals

The average cost for a Direct Cremation is listed in the report as £1,597. The Natural Burial Company do offer a Direct Cremation Service, but with additions to support the environment and the bereaved. For each cremation conducted we plant 3 trees to help mitigate the environmental impact of the cremation, and conduct an interment of the cremated remains at one of our natural burial grounds. Memorials may be purchased and a Celebration of Life or Memorial Service held. We understand the importance of being able to say goodbye, and to leave a natural legacy for future generations. The Direct Cremation with Natural Burial of Cremated Remains is available from £1,750 Direct Cremation – Direct Natural Funerals

We also work with all local funeral directors, and help support DIY services if you would like to make all arrangements yourself. We simply wish to ensure that your goodbye is personal and appropriate. We are here to help you.

We are also proud to provide the following for each full burial service.

To maximise our care for the environment and out of respect for those resting with us, all graves are dug by hand.

We only conduct one full burial service a day. Ensuring that you have the time you need to say goodbye. In the warmer months many use this time to have a picnic around the graveside.

There are no “out of area” charges or restrictions on who may rest with us. Our natural burial grounds are open to all, irrespective of where you lived, your religion, or beliefs.

Our team work to support nature at our natural burial grounds. We see the burial ground as a beautiful, natural tribute to those in our care. Individual trees may also be planted on graves to ensure a personal legacy for the future.

Our natural burial grounds will in time be left to nature. To ensure natural beauty, support for nature and biodiversity, and an inspirational place to visit for future generations.

For further information, or to arrange to visit one of our natural burial grounds, please don’t hesitate to phone (0116) 222 0247 or email [email protected]

* sunlife-cost-of-dying-report-2025.pdf

Direct Cremation with Care and Meaning

The benefits of direct unattended cremation and burial are well known. This style of service is simple and cost-effective. It is true though that the service can be impersonal and may lead to regrets. This is not the case with direct services from The Natural Burial Company.

The first concern is that you don’t know who is caring for your loved one. With The Natural Burial Company it is the same team caring for your loved one as arrange and conduct our full funeral services. Everyone is equal in our eyes and arrangements and care will be with Nina, Christopher and our dedicated team.

It has also been noted that many people feel they have missed a chance to say goodbye with a direct funeral. Not being present can impact upon the grieving process. With The Natural Burial Company you can arrange a memorial service or celebration of life at a later date. This allows family and friends to get together to share memories and remember. This could be arranged for a special date such as a birthday or anniversary, or maybe for a summer day with a picnic.

Having a memorial, a place to visit, is also extremely important. With all of our direct services a tree, slate plaque and bird or nature box can be arranged. Our natural burial grounds are beautiful places to visit and remember. Furthermore you are leaving a beautiful natural legacy to support the environment and encourage nature. A memorial tree for example will be a magnificent, living, life-giving memorial for generations.

A direct cremation or burial with The Natural Burial Company will be cost-effective and simple, it will however also be personal and arranged with care and support for you and the environment. For further details you are welcome to contact our team on (0116) 222 0247, by email [email protected] or on our websites https://funeralsdirect.co.uk or Natural & Green Burials – The Natural Burial Company

A Full Range of Environmentally Friendly Services

The Natural Burial Company are dedicated to providing green and environmentally funeral services whilst offering the best possible value. A full range of services are available, Direct Cremation, Direct Natural Burial, Simple Natural Burial and Full Family Led Natural Burial Services.

We understand that for many reasons we all have different requirements. However, whatever the choice, all arrangements must be conducted with total care, respect and support. Our team are committed to ensuring personal service for all.

We respect that you may require a natural burial but with a more traditional funeral director, this is no problem as we work with all local funeral directors and can also refer you to our traditional funeral director partners if you wish. However, for those who wish for a more relaxed, personalised service we offer the following.

Direct Cremation with Natural Interment of Cremated Remains – A direct unattended cremation, followed by an interment of Cremated Remains at a natural burial ground. To help mitigate the environmental impact of cremation 3 trees are planted for each cremation conducted. The cost of this service is £1,750 if the interment is unattended, or £1,990 with an attended interment service or celebration. Further details are available here Direct Cremation – Direct Natural Funerals (funeralsdirect.co.uk)

Direct Unattended Burial – A direct unattended burial at the natural burial ground. The all inclusive cost is £1,740*. Direct Natural Burial – Direct Natural Funerals (funeralsdirect.co.uk)

The Simple Natural Burial Service – Allowing the value of the Direct Unattended Service, but including a simple service for up to 30 minutes, with up to 6 people able to attend. The Simple Natural Burial Service is £2,250*. Simple Natural Burial Service  – Direct Natural Funerals (funeralsdirect.co.uk)

The Full Family Led Natural Burial – A complete personalised funeral or celebration of life service with no restrictions or time or attendance. Only one Full Natural Burial is conducted at each natural burial ground on any day, this allows time for a picnic or complete personalisation of services. The cost of this service starts at £1,700 (exclusive of plot and interment fees). Full Natural Burial – Direct Natural Funerals (funeralsdirect.co.uk)

* Cost inclusive of burial in the natural burial ground and interment fees. The rights to the plot remain with The Natural Burial Company, although the rights may be purchased at a later date if you wish.

An environmentally friendly Jute or Simple Cardboard Coffin is supplied with all services. Other Coffins, Caskets and Shrouds are also available Coffins-Caskets-and-Shroud-Range-May-2024.pdf (thenaturalburialcompany.co.uk)

Our team are available to help on (0116) 222 0247, email [email protected] or between 10am and 3pm weekdays at our Community Hub, 1118a Melton Road, Syston LE7 2HA.

Green Coffins, Caring Service

With the continued growth in direct cremations, direct burials, and more personalised funerals, there is a danger that in some cases key considerations such as environmental care and personal service are lost. That’s one of the reasons why we pride ourselves on providing the best possible service, for a fair price, whilst being as green as we possibly can.

Did you know that 3 million single us plastic coffin handles are used each year? In the majority of cases these handles are just for show, they are not load-bearing. Furthermore, glues, lacquers, and other materials in what are often seen as “traditional” coffins add to the environmental damage. At The Natural Burial Company we reject using these coffins and ensure that every coffin, casket and shroud in our range is environmentally friendly.

Even for direct services we ensure that only coffins that meet our strict criteria are used. This includes the latest coffin within our range, made of Jute, Bamboo and Paulownia. As well as using only environmentally friendly materials these coffins are flat-packed to minimise the environmental impact when being transported from the makers.

Our other coffins and caskets are made from Cardboard, Bamboo, Willow, and Wool. Ensuring a choice, safe in the knowledge that all options are environmentally friendly, and carefully priced to help reduce funeral poverty. Our full coffin and casket range can be viewed here Coffins-Caskets-and-Shroud-Range-May-2024.pdf (thenaturalburialcompany.co.uk)

We are proud that we are able to offer such a green range and thank the excellent coffin makers and suppliers who are working hard to ensure such environmentally friendly choices are available.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require further information regarding our range on (0116) 222 0247 or by email [email protected] Our team are dedicated to helping in any way that they can.

Care and Value

Green Funerals are not just better for the environment, they also offer extremely good value for money.

At The Natural Burial Company we provide the following complete funeral services.

Direct Cremation with Natural Interment of Cremated Remains – From £1,750.

Direct Natural Burial – £1,740.

Simple Natural Burial Service – £2,250.

The Natural Burial Funeral Service (Family Led Service) – From £2,890.

For an information pack, further information, or to meet with a member of our team please contact us at any time on 0116 222 0247 or [email protected]

What is a Green Funeral?

We understand that many people would like to know more about green funerals but may find it difficult to find information. Therefore, we offer various options to help the public, community groups, and funeral service professionals to be more aware of how a goodbye can be as environmentally friendly as possible.

You can arrange to meet a member of our team at one of our natural burial grounds at any time, we can also visit you.

Community Groups

We can visit your community group and conduct presentations on Making a funeral greener, Cost-effective Funeral Services, or Natural Burial. The presentation can be general or can include the services provided by The Natural Burial Company. The presentation will finish with a question and answer session and information will be available to take away.

Alternatively, groups can visit our natural burial grounds for a tour and explanation of natural burial, what we offer, and how all funerals can be greener.

Funeral Service Professionals

Celebrants, funeral directors and arrangers, florists, end of life doulas and anyone involved in bereavement and funeral services is welcome to arrange to visit our burial grounds. We can also visit branches and offices to provide information to help professionals be better equipped to help support clients and the general public regarding green funerals.

The General Public

Everyone is welcome to contact us at any time for further information. You can phone on (0116) 222 0247 or email [email protected] and we can send information by email or post.

A personal visit to a natural burial ground is often the best option if you are able, this allows the greatest understanding of natural burial and how we encourage nature and ensure a natural legacy for all in our care.

Our team are here to help everyone to make the right choices for themselves, their loved ones, and the environment.

Helping you make an informed choice

When arranging a funeral service many people look for environmentally friendly options. But if the information you require is not available how do you know you are making the right decision?

For example, many “traditional” coffins have gold, silver or bronze coloured plastic handles. It is believed that up to 3 million of these single use plastic handles are used each year. Alternative handles, such as rope or wood, are available, but they are not always listed within a coffin range.

However, alternatives are available for both traditional and more modern styles of coffin and casket. Accordingly we are asking for all in funeral service to ensure that this open “informed choice” is available to all when arranging a funeral service.

To play our part in helping everyone to make an informed choice we now offer a new complete range of environmentally friendly coffins, caskets, and shrouds. For all coffins and caskets our website and literature will provide details of materials used and where it was weaved/made/manufactured. We believe that this will allow a greater understanding of not only the coffins available, but also the environmental impact they may have.

Furthermore, as supporting the bereaved and fighting funeral poverty is key to our ethos, we do make sure that our coffins, caskets and shrouds are fairly priced as well as being as green as possible.

Our range includes Cardboard, Bamboo, Willow and Woollen, as well as the Earthcare Coffin made predominantly using recycled paper and bark timber from FSC forests. We can also offer additional coffins upon request and are happy to provide the green credentials for all.

Whilst we offer a comprehensive range we do appreciate that you may also have your own family funeral director that you may wish to use. Many funeral directors offer a comprehensive range of coffins and caskets and will be happy to help meet your requests. We allow all environmentally friendly coffins in our burial grounds.

We would welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you may have. Our team are available on (0116) 222 0247 or [email protected]

Service, Care, and Value for Money

You may have seen the recent SunLife Cost of Dying 2024 Report*, this provides a breakdown of average costs for funerals, including direct cremations and direct burials, nationwide.

At The Natural Burial Company we are concerned at these findings. Our ethos is simple, Care for the Environment, Care for the Bereaved, and Fighting Funeral Poverty. Accordingly whilst not only ensuring we provide environmentally friendly funerals to encourage nature and leave a natural legacy, we also ensure our pricing is fair and provides excellent value for money.

The SunLife survey states that the average cost of a “basic funeral” which includes a limousine and a midrange coffin is £4,141. A rise of 4.7% from the previous year.

The average cost listed by SunLife for a burial service is £5,077. For comparison a burial service provided by The Natural Burial Company, with a comparable coffin, new grave and interment fees (but no limousine) is £3,030 at our Prestwold and Scraptoft Natural Burial Grounds, and £3,200 at our Wrottesley Park Natural Burial Ground. Even adding the cost of an external celebrant (average £220) the Natural Burial Funeral Service costs £1,827 less than the average (£1,657 less at Wrottesley Park).

For Direct Burial the difference is even more stark, with the average cost listed by SunLife as £1,657 without third party fees such as the plot. The cost of the Natural Burial Company Direct Burial is £1,740, which includes the plot and all fees.

The cost listed for Direct Cremation is £1,498. This is below the Natural Burial Company cost. However, The Natural Burial Company charges include plot and interment fees, and the planting of 3 trees. The price is £1,750 with an unattended interment or £1,980 with a full graveside service/celebration of life, including tree planting.

We understand that money is tight for so many people and we want to do what we can to help at this most difficult of times. Accordingly, you are welcome to contact our team at any time on (0116) 222 0247 or by email [email protected]

* sunlife.co.uk/siteassets/documents/cost-of-dying/sunlife-cost-of-dying-report-2024.pdf/

Prices correct at 25th January 2024.

Simple, Low Cost, and Environmentally Friendly

You may have considered direct cremation for yourself or a loved one, but there are so many options available. How do you know which is right for you, your family and the environment?

The Natural Burial Company are an experienced team dedicated to caring for the deceased and the environment. Our aim is always to provide the best possible service. Accordingly the care and standards provided for our direct cremation and direct burial services are exactly the same as for our full natural burial services.

The same team of experienced, caring professionals, care for you and your loved one. Our arranging team, Nina, Kayleigh and Christopher have a combined experience of over 60 years caring for the bereaved.

We can make all aspects of the service as simple as possible for you. We can meet you at one of our natural burial grounds or visit you in your own home. Alternatively, all arrangements may be made by email, telephone or a teams/skype call. Once your requirements are confirmed we remain available to help you and your family.

We endeavour to keep our costs low, and whilst we acknowledge that you will find cheaper alternatives, we believe that the quality of our personal care and the service we provide ensures exceptional value.

Care for the environment remains key to our ethos, that’s why three trees are planted for each direct cremation conducted. Our trees are sourced from one of the very best nurseries in the UK, who provide us with trees of exceptional quality. Typically these trees are 5 to 8 feet in height (species dependent) at time of planting. These are not small “whips” as is often the case with other providers. These trees will also be planted on Natural Burial Company land. This ensures they will in time become a part of the memorial woodlands left to nature for future generations. All Natural Burial Company burial grounds will in time be left to nature to ensure a beautiful, natural legacy for those in our care.

We also understand that not everyone wants a cremation, but appreciated the advantages of a direct service. Accordingly, we offer a full Direct Burial service at our natural burial grounds. You would not know the exact location of your loved one, but could visit the burial ground at any time, knowing that the burial ground is itself a memorial to those in its care. Peace, tranquillity and a place to visit and remember can provide a great comfort,

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require further information, or if we can help in any way. Our team are available on (0116) 222 0247 or at [email protected]