Crematorium Recycling Funds for Charities

Crematorium recycling funds make donations to charity, including bereavement and end-of-life charities. Here's how to find yours.

Crematorium Recycling Funds for Charities

Since it started in 2007, the ICCM Recycling of Metals Scheme has raised over £19 million for more than 700 charities. This guide includes an explanation of how this works, how to find your local crematorium/council, how they can become a member if they aren't one yet and also lists the crematorium funds we've found, so you can see how much and whom they tend to donate to.

Crematorium Recycling Scheme

The Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM) scheme uses Netherlands-based company Orthometals to recycle the metal left after someone is cremated. Each participating local authority or crematorium nominates charities to receive a donation every year from the proceeds. Metals recovered after a cremation are recycled only with the specific consent of the family. Reusable pacemakers removed prior to cremation are donated to charity in Africa.

How to Find Your Local Crematorium or Council

More than half of the UK’s crematoriums are members; about 260. To check if your local authority is, you can use this crematorium directory to find a crematorium near your charity. I don't think this is comprehensive, so perhaps Google 'crematoriums near me'.

If it isn't a member, why not approach your council? It's free to join, and they will not only be promoting recycling but also securing desperately needed funding they can donate to their local charities. You can find the scheme details here. Here's how to find your local council using your postcode and the Scottish Government also have one that allows you to search by Scottish Council name using a pull down menu.

Individual Crematorium Funds

Whilst there is a focus on bereavement and end-of-life charities, each council/crematorium makes it's own choice and some have donated to a wide range of charities and for amounts varying from £1,000 up to about £15,000. Most seem to have annual donations but others seem to donate biannually. Here are a list of crematoria I've found who participate with details of the grants they make.

Bath & North East Somerset Council. Charities are selected on the basis they have to assist the bereaved or those who are terminally ill. Local charities meeting the criteria can get in touch with staff at Haycombe Cemetery and Crematorium on 01225 396020 or email cemeteries_crematorium@bathnes.gov.uk. They have made grants of up to £14,000.
Westerleigh Cemetery & Crematorium (Bristol). A £1,000 donation in Feb 24.
Glynn Valley Crematorium (Cornwall). Donated £10,000 to Cornwall Air Ambulance in Sep 24.
Chesterfield and District Joint Crematorium Committee (Derbyshire). In 2023, distributed funding equally between 6 charities in the Bolsover, North East Derbyshire and Chesterfield areas.
Exeter and Devon Crematorium. We found a donation in 2023 of £10,000 to a local bereavement charity.
BCP Bereavement Care. Run by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (Dorset) say that they nominates a bereavement charity each year. However, in recent years they have donated a total of £35,000 to The Alzheimer’s Society, Teenage Cancer Trust, and Cruse Bereavement Care (South Hampshire).
Hereford Crematorium. Donations have been made to The Haven, Macmillan Cancer Support, Cruse Bereavement Care, Marie Curie Cancer Care, St Michael’s Hospice, Home Start, Phoenix Bereavement Support Services, Winstone’s Wish and Rocky Lee’s Little Feet.
Teesside Crematorium (County Durham & North Yorkshire). Their 2024 donation of £14,000 will be shared between the Middlesbrough Cruse Bereavement Care and Still Parents Teesside.
Mountsett Crematorium Fund (Durham). Found a donation of circa £4k to a child bereavement charity.
Cheltenham Crematorium (Gloucester). Donated £12,000 to the Children’s Air Ambulance (TCAA) in 2023.
Isle of Wight Crematorium. Choose a charity each year. In 2024, it was Young Lives vs Cancer. They donated £3,867.
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s Kent and Sussex Crematorium. Donations to local bereavement charities. Donated £12,000 to Jigsaw (South East) but I think this was some time ago. In Nov 24, they made a donation of £11,600.
Gilroes Crematorium (Leicester). Has raised £20,000 in the past five years and recently made a donation of £5,000.
North East Lincolnshire Council. Grimsby Crematorium charity fund donates to local organisations twice a year. They have made grants of up to £7,000.
Lea Fields Crematorium (Lincolnshire). In 2022, they donated £27,000 to LIVES, Lincolnshire and St Andrew’s Hospice from West Lindsey District Council.
St Helens Crematorium (Merseyside). In 2023, made a donation of £12,000 to a hospice.
South-West Middlesex Crematorium. The annual proceeds of the scheme are distributed to charities providing bereavement support. We found a £12,000 donation in 2023.
St Faith Crematorium (Norfolk). We found a £10,000 donation in Nov 24.
Cromer Crematorium (Norfolk). Supports a range of charities. They made donations of £1,500 in Nov 24.
Nene Valley Crematorium(Northamptonshire). Since the opening of the crematorium in 2016, they have nominated 6 local charities for donations totalling £77,000. Contact - enquiries@nenevalleycrematroium.co.uk.
Stafford Council Crematorium. The latest grant I found in 2024 was £14k to Stafford and District Bereavement Loss Support Service, bringing the total since 2013 to £121,000. Others that have benefitted include A Child of Mine, Samaritans and Katharine House Hospice.
Cannock Chase Crematorium (Staffordshire). In 2024 made 2 donations of £7,000. This is the 5th major donation made to local charities since 2021, bringing the total donated to £63,000.
West Suffolk Cemetery and Crematorium. Their metal recycling scheme recycles metals recovered during cremation with the consent of families. The funds raised are used to support charities, activities, and environmental initiatives – this info is from a local newspaper. If you scroll down the web page link and click number 6it states that they donate the surplus annually to local bereavement related charities and, over the last 5 years, have donated approximately £100’000 to UK charities. The donation I found was made in Nov 24, so the funding round would probably have been in the autumn.
Worthing Crematorium (Sussex). Supports local West Sussex charities that work in areas related to death and bereavement. They've made grants from £4,000 to £14,000. To apply, fill in the online nomination form.
North East Surrey Crematorium. The bots found a pdf online that said they donate their funds to 6 charities but we don't know how old this is.
Woodvale Crematorium Fund (Sussex). Found a donation of circa £4k to a child bereavement charity.
Swindon Crematorium (Wiltshire). During the last 10 years, the Crematorium has raised more than £132,000. A 2024 donation of £11,000 was to a hospice, previous donations have included Wiltshire Treehouse, Mind, Swindon Sands Community and Wiltshire Air Ambulance.
Rainsbrook Crematorium (Warwickshire). Donated £14,000 to a local charity in Jan 24.

Crematoriums in Scotland

Clyde Coastal & Garnock Valley Crematorium. In 2020 donated £10,000 to North Ayrshire Cancer Care, bringing the total they had donated to £38,000.

Crematorium Funds in Wales

Coychurch Crematorium Fund (Bridgend) - makes donations through a committee. All I can find online is that all profits go to bereavement charities.

Crematorium Funds in Northern Ireland

Belfast Crematorium. Managed by the City council but news reports say the decisions are made by the Funeral Directors Forum. They have made donations of £5,000 and £10,000 previously and not just to bereavement charities.