The Green Funeral Company

ABOUT US

Founded in 1999 by Rupert Callender, and joined by Claire Callender-Phillips...

The pair created a genuinely unique, immersive way of working that combines the practical work of an undertaker with the ceremonial holding of a good priest.

Since then, The Green Funeral Company has helped hundreds of people through the traumatic days following a death.

After 21 years, Claire left to see whether there is more to life than death, and Rupert was joined by Claire Burton. Together they continue the two person formula that holds a family tightly through the early turbulence of bereavement.
We are proud to call ourselves undertakers.

When we first meet, we are unlikely to be wearing suits. We don’t have a fleet of hearses and limousines. We don’t employ bearers. We do not consider faux-Victoriana and a mournful expression to be an assurance of respect and dignity. 
What we do promise though, is that we will be there for you, with your grief, in these difficult times.

Meet The Team

The Green Funeral Company has always consisted of just two people. Currently Rupert Callender and Claire Burton. This small and personal approach means you know who is answering the phone, collecting the body, meeting with you, carrying the coffin with you and even writing and holding the ceremony, if you wish us to.

Rupert Callender

Rupert founded The Green Funeral Company in 1999, driven by personal loss and dissatisfaction with the funerals following his parents’ early deaths.

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Claire Burton

Claire came to The Green Funeral Company in April 2021. Her background has been in Occupational Therapy and Home Care, supporting older people within the community.

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Rupert Callender

Inspired by a chance encounter with the charity The Natural Death Centre, Rupert realised that being an undertaker was his vocation, and drawing on his experiences as a bereaved child, as well as running around the hospice where his mother worked, The Green Funeral Company’s radical ethos was formed almost instantly, and is constantly evolving ever since.

Rupert has also become an author and public speaker, editing the 5th edition of The Natural Death Handbook, and he and Claire Phillips have been written about in 9 non fiction books, and did a TED X talk together entitled, “Death, grief, ritual and Radical Funerals. Rupert started The Green Funeral Company in 1999, with no previous experience of the industry or family connections to the trade, but an awful lot of experience of bereavement at a young age, particularly the early death of his parents, and the unsatisfactory funerals that followed.

Rupert has written his own book Published the 15th September 2022.

What Remains? is a deeply moving book that will change the way readers think about life, death and the all-important end-of-life experience. As Ru memorably says, ‘Death has shown me unimaginable horror, the unbreakable core of love and courage that lies at the heart of what it means to be human.’

Claire Burton

Claire initially started in the NHS as an Occupational Therapist, before moving into home care, where she went on to set up and run her own home care company, supporting older people in the local community in and around Totnes. She has also worked for Totnes Caring, supporting hospital discharges and working alongside health professionals and volunteers, again, helping older people, with advice and support. 
 
Each of these different roles has given her an insight into the many faces of death and the experiences of those who approach it. Working for so many years in care, supporting those at the end of their life was a significant part of her role. Having attended many funerals held by Ru and Claire, and been inspired by their truth and ability to capture the true essence of the individual, she was honoured to be asked to join the company in April 2021. She brings with her, her organisations skills, alongside compassion and empathy.