How One Community Went Above and Beyond for a Little Girl’s Family

Compassion is a core principle in the care of the deceased, extending beyond respect to include the environment and equipment used in funeral homes, care settings, and community spaces. Ensuring every individual is treated with care, respect and professionalism is essential, regardless of age, size, or setting. Flexmort’s innovative cooling solutions, including the AirCool, CuddleBlanket, and CuddleCot, are designed with this ethos at their heart.

Where traditional mortuary equipment may not be suitable, the CuddleBlanket and CuddleCot provide discreet, individualised alternatives. These low-profile systems fit easily into any bed or cot, allowing the deceased to remain in familiar surroundings while ensuring families can spend uninterrupted time with their loved one. Crucially, there’s no need to cool the entire room, meaning families can stay with loved ones in comfort without feeling rushed or cold.

One family found comfort in the CuddleBlanket thanks to a West Cumbria hospice and funeral home. The Milton family, of Egremont, suffered the devastating loss of their daughter, Ivy Mae, aged four, in February 2025. Following her passing at Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, the family wished to bring Ivy home to rest in her own bed until her funeral.

Funeral Director Michael Branney, of Eaves Funeral Service, was fortunate to have access to a CuddleBlanket through Jigsaw Children’s Hospice in Carlisle. He personally collected the equipment, and installed it in the family home. The CuddleBlanket gave Ivy’s family precious time to say goodbye, without the clinical feel of hospital or mortuary equipment.

Recognising the impact of this experience, the family launched Project Ivy, a fundraising effort to provide more CuddleBlanket kits for families across Cumbria. Today, the equipment is based at Eaves Funeral Service and is available to other funeral directors as needed. Eaves can now offer two CuddleCots for babies, and three adult CuddleBlankets for children and adults.

For funeral directors, investing in a CuddleBlanket is more than a practical choice, it’s a powerful way to extend compassionate care beyond the funeral home. It allows them to support local care homes and hospices, offer flexible, on-call assistance to other directors, and most importantly, provide families with the time and space they need to say goodbye.

Learn more about the CuddleBlanket at Flexmort.com