Our Social Responsibility

The crematorium is built on 10 acres of land within the heart of Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, surrounded by the communities of the Garnock Valley and the Clyde Coast. All of our communities have distinct heritages ranging from the tourist destinations of the Clyde Coast to the proud industrial towns of the Garnock Valley.

We support the community’s economy by employing local people from the area who know their communities well. We source materials from local suppliers, for example, much of the furniture within the building was crafted locally using reclaimed wood from the Regional Park and we use local tradespeople whenever possible.

We are part of the Horizon Cremation Group and we take our social responsibilities extremely seriously.

ESG – short for Environmental, Social and Governance – is a set of standards measuring a business’s impact on society, the environment and how transparent and accountable it is.

In 2022 / 2023 we developed a sustainability strategy, based on the framework of the ESG methodology, to measure our performance as we develop and grow our operations. You can access the full report here

The building, with pitched roof lines at the front and back, is home to house martins which nest under the eaves. The house martin is a common summer visitor to the UK, arriving in April and leaving in October. It builds mud nests, sometimes in small colonies, under ledges, on cliffs and, as their name suggests, under the eaves of houses. Both males and females help to build the nest, collecting mud from streams and ponds and building up layers with bill-sized pellets. Our house martins have been returning each year and can be seen from the picture window in the ceremony hall swooping in and out of their nests.
We also welcome each year several pairs of pied wagtails and take great pleasure in watching them industrially build nests to raise their young.
We have planted avenues of lavender to encourage bees and other insects which thrive on the rich nectar produced by the lavender flowers.
Our site is surrounded by fields with sheep and cattle. Areas of commercial foresting have also been re-introduced to the surrounding hills complementing our own tree planting scheme.
Since May 2020, we have made a commitment to plant a tree in memory of each person who has passed into our care. Working in conjunction with a local social enterprise, Eadha, we are planting native tree saplings with the aim of creating woodland areas within our 10 acre site.
All of our working practices are managed to actively reduce our carbon footprint.

As members of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management’s Recycling of Metals Scheme, we have donated £103600 to local hospices since we opened in 2018.

The scheme allows for the sensitive recovery of metals following the cremation process, such as screws, staples and pins from coffin construction as well as orthopaedic implants, with the full consent of bereaved families.

We also make donations to local charities each year from funds left by mourners at services where the family hasn’t specified a preferred charity.