Turnbull - We offer a simple, dignified, direct cremation with no upfront payments or hidden fees
£1,495
A direct cremation is more affordable than standard cremation
Our family has a long, proud, history serving the community of North Shields, Cullercoats, Tynemouth, Whitley Bay, Wallsend and Newcastle upon Tyne since 1790. We are a compassionate and experienced funeral care specialist, offering genuine support, choice and value.
Our direct cremation includes:
- Dignified collection of the person who has died
- Chapel of rest visit
- Simple coffin
- Private transport to the crematorium
- Direct cremation and associated cremation fees
- Return or scattering of ashes
- Personal and dedicated customer support
Our direct cremations do not include:
- Repatriation costs if your loved one has died outside of the UK
- Embalming
- A celebrant or minister
- Hearse and limousines
- Crematorium memorial service with attendees
Quality
We’re a highly-rated local Funeral Director with a Google 5-star rating (Correct as of December 2025).
Value
Our simple, direct cremation is less than half the average cost of a funeral today (Based on the SunLife 2024 Cost of Dying Report).
Care
Our funeral arrangers will take care of everything and keep you informed every step of the way.
Our direct cremation process
1. We're ready to listen
If a loved one of yours has recently died, or if they are nearing the end of their life, we’ll gladly help you to make the arrangements. The first step is to give us a call.
2. Collecting your loved one
We don’t need to collect your loved one immediately, so please take your time in saying your goodbyes. Once you’re ready for us, we’ll bring them into our care.
3. Supporting you and your family
Whilst your loved one is resting safely in our modern, managed mortuary facilities, we’ll guide you through all the legal paperwork, ensuring the cremation can go ahead smoothly.
4. A chance to say farewell
We know that it’s important for some families to say goodbye at a ceremony before the cremation. If you would like, we can help you arrange a simple ceremony at a local crematorium or you can say your goodbyes at our chapel of rest.
5. The cremation
For those without a ceremony, we’ll make sure to let you know at what time the cremation will take place, so that you can have a moment of quiet reflection to yourself.
6. Your loved one's ashes
Depending on what you’d like, we can either hand-deliver the ashes to you at home. Or we can scatter them respectfully on your behalf at the crematorium’s own Garden of Remembrance.
We offer excellent customer service
Priority care
If you’d like things to happen quickly, we can work closely with you to ensure the arrangements happen within your timelines.
Low cost service
If you’d like, we can help you arrange a low-cost service local to you, or at any crematorium in Great Britain.
Choice of coffin
If your loved one’s coffin is important to you, we can support you to choose one that feels right.
Chapel of rest
Unlike other providers, we can support you to say goodbye to your loved one with a viewing at one of our chapels of rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my loved one would have been happy with a Direct Cremation?
- Direct Cremation is a type of funeral whose popularity is growing in the UK, and we tend to find that it is favoured by those who would have wanted a more personal alternative to the formalities of tradition. If your loved one wouldn’t have wanted to be escorted in a hearse or have their name written in flowers, then this gives another option, as these things are not normally included. We would be glad to arrange one in Newcastle for you: we would collect your loved one from where they are resting and bring them to the crematorium for their ceremony. Following this, we can either scatter their ashes for you in the garden of remembrance, or we bring them back to you at home personally, whatever you think would be best. It provides a fitting way to honour the memory of your loved one on their terms.
How does the cost of a Direct Cremation compare to other funerals?
- We hope that it makes things just a little easier to bear knowing that it’s usually a good deal cheaper than other funerals, due to their more understated style. In fact, an Aura funeral could cost you less than half of what you could pay on average for a funeral in the UK, and we could offer this type of ceremony for you in Newcastle from £1,495. If you are ready to give us a call, we’d be happy to talk to you about what you need, and give you a direct quote.
Is it possible to include elements of my loved one's personality in the ceremony?
- The fact that every funeral is as unique and special as the person whom they are commemorating is something we see every day, and we would be honoured to help you bring out your loved one’s character at their ceremony. There are lots of different ways in which we could help with that: For example, some people want to make sure that their loved one’s coffin reflects who they were in life, whether through its design or materials, or even its colours and visual adornments. There are others who want to make sure that they can attend the ceremony in person with friends and family, which is something we can easily arrange even if this kind of ceremony is normally unattended. Whatever ideas you might have, we would be very pleased to hear them; why not give us a call, and we can plan something together that does right by your loved one?
How quickly can you organise this ceremony for me in the North East?
- We will always work as hard as we can to deliver things for you in a timely fashion, without settling for lower quality. It might be helpful to bear in mind that each funeral is different, and therefore, much as with the question of cost, the time it takes to arrange everything can vary. We could arrange one of our bespoke funerals for you within a fortnight, but other kinds will need more time. Just as soon as we have had an opportunity to discuss your requirements with you over the phone, we will be able to give you more specific information about how long things might take.
How much support can Simple Cremation offer me throughout the planning of my loved one's ceremony?
- Suddenly finding that you need to plan a funeral — especially if it was not expected — can make life difficult at the best of times, and cause lots of additional stress. We want you to know that we understand that, and that we are here to listen to you. Our kind team of Angels are on hand to take all of the administrative pressure off of your shoulders, and to organise everything for you, if that is what you need. Our goal is to make sure that your loved one gets the send off they deserve, and that you are free to be in the moment with friends and family, whether you are in Newcastle or anywhere else in the UK.
Where will the cremation take place?
We provide a nationwide direct cremation service, working with a trusted network of crematoria and care centres across North East England. The cremation will take place locally as part of our standard £1,495 package.
To keep our service simple and affordable, we arrange the cremation based on availability within our wider network. This helps avoid delays and allows us to offer the best possible value.
If it’s important for you to choose a specific crematorium, we do offer that option. While we always aim to keep things as close to home as possible, your loved one may be cared for at one of our partner facilities a little further away.
No matter where the cremation takes place, your loved one will be treated with the utmost care, dignity and respect. If you’d like to discuss location options in more detail, our team is here to help.
Google testimonials
We offer a great value funeral plan, it is an easy way to organise your funeral arrangements in advance and specify your wishes.
£1,825
A direct cremation is more affordable than standard cremation, you can pay monthly – from £19.01*