Funeral director completes 285 mile walk to London to highlight funeral poverty

A funeral director based in Harrogate has walked 285 miles to London to highlight the growing problem of funeral poverty.

Jonathan Robinson of Joseph C Roberts funeral directors arrived at the Houses of Parliament where he met with several MPs including the government minister responsible for funeral payments.

Robinson was also able to view the world’s oldest motorised hearse.

Robinson said: “The walk was very hot in the early stages, and quite cool for the remainder of the journey but fortunately I didn’t have much in the way of rain at all.”

“I had a meeting with Kit Malthouse MP, who has the responsibility for overseeing the funeral fund. I opened his eyes in certain areas, he did make some commitments to me in terms of sharing information across government departments, and I believe that progress will now be made.

“The next hurdle we have to overcome is to secure some additional funding, and I would like to think that there is a good prospect for change during 2019.”