Number of volunteer funeral guests on the rise in Brussels

There’s a growing trend in some Brussels communes to have a group of volunteers attend the funeral of someone they don’t know, and sometimes even say a reading during the service. In the Brussels commune of Jette, the system of volunteer funeral guests has been around for two years, and in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert/Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe since the beginning of this year. Anderlecht and Evere have plans to follow suit, reports Brusselnieuws.be.

In Jette, the system was created at the initiative of Claire Vandevivere (CDH) of the local civil registry office, when she first heard about a deceased person who had no family or friends to attend his funeral. She estimates that the problem occurs about 15 times a year in the commune.

Jette has about 20 volunteers ready to attend a funeral at a moment’s notice. "There are more women than men, and they’re mostly people over 50. They have to be able to make themselves available on very short notice," Vandevivere told Brusselnieuws.be.