Direct Cremation, Simple & Traditional Funerals
10/12/2024
A Heartfelt Farewell...
Dear Friends, Family, and Everyone We’ve Had the Honour to Serve,
This message comes from Peter, Xina and Gay, written with love and gratitude as we let you know that we have stepped away from Gooding Funeral Services. While the business continues, we have made the difficult decision to leave. This choice was not made lightly but was necessitated by a health situation that came to our attention just over a year ago and has since required our full focus.
With heavy hearts, we saw no alternative but to sell the business.
We want to reassure you that the familiar faces you’ve come to know remain. Joshua (Peter & Xina's son), Sonia, Johnny, Maggie (Peter's sister), Colin, and even from time to time Malachi (Xina & Peter's son) will continue to provide the care and service you’ve always relied upon. Though we’ve stepped back, the legacy of love, compassion, and professionalism that defines Gooding Funeral Services is in capable hands.
This transition is bittersweet for us. For over a decade, this has been more than a business - it’s been a calling, deeply rooted in our family and our heritage. We’ve always been immensely proud of being a Black-owned business, serving ALL communities with heart and professionalism. It remains a point of pride that our father, Hugh, was the first independent Black funeral director in the North of England, and Xina & Gay were the first Black women to own an independent funeral parlour in the country.
In keeping with these values, we offered the business firstly to our staff and to other funeral businesses who we personally knew would have a respect for working with diverse communities before opening the opportunity to the general market. It was also important to us that the new owners would keep the staff. We are confident that the new owners, who are also family-business-owners, will continue to serve the community.
We are sure the new management team will introduce themselves to you soon. Until then, we simply want to say thank you. Thank you for trusting Hugh when he opened the business in 2007, for supporting Peter, Gay, and me after Hugh died, and for allowing our family to continue to serve yours as we step back. Your love and encouragement have meant the world to us, and we are forever grateful for the connections we’ve built over the years.
Finally, we kindly ask the community for your understanding and space as we take the time needed to focus on our family’s well-being. Your support and kindness have always meant so much to us, and we are deeply grateful as we step back to tend to this as a family.
With all our love,
Peter, Xina and Gay
