Rossendale funeral directors celebrates 10 years in business by opening new branch in Brierfield

Agápe Funeral Service opened in 2013 and is now opening the new branch in Colne Road, Brierfield.

The family-run firm, which also has premises in Waterfoot, involves funeral director Sharon Aspinall, husband Darren and their younger son Nathanael who will be running the new Brierfield base.

Sharon said: “We chose the Greek name Agápe because it means unconditional love – it also means affectionately taking care of the dead, which is what we make a point of doing well.

“Both of our premises were originally funeral homes, and in Brierfield we have a Chapel of Rest as well as a large room for a service chapel.

“We decided to look to expand into Burnley and Pendle because we have helped a lot of families from those areas and then we saw the former Co-op building was available.”

The family have refurbished the inside of the premises and welcomed residents to look round.

Sharon said: “Sometimes families decide to have a direct cremation, without any service, but our new building means we will be able to offer them the chance to have a family service in our premises for a minimal extra fee if they desire.

“At Agápe we are a modern funeral service, we don’t offer our families a package, we create the bespoke funeral to meet their wishes, wants and requests.

“We enjoy the challenge of creating tailor-made funerals and helping our families honour their loved ones wishes.”

Families are also given an online page, where people can post thoughts, wishes, photographs or videos and the page is left open indefinitely.

Sharon said: “We arranged a funeral for a man originally from Portugal. Friends from abroad could post their thoughts on the page, and his daughter was delighted when someone put up a photograph of her dad in school, which she had never seen before.”

The business is supporting Pendleside Hospice’s Corporate Challenge and Nathanael will be completing a skydive.

Agápe is also supporting charity Positive Action in the Community, which has a base in Nelson. They provide accommodation for homeless young people and also run mental health and suicide prevention services.