A bespoke memorial jewellery and keepsake business hoping to offer people some comfort during grief has launched in the town. 

Rachel Thompson, from North Swindon, launched White Feather Memorials earlier this year after spending a year and a half researching materials and attending courses.

She makes mainly sterling silver jewellery, as well as keepsakes like bouquet charms and trinket trays.

Rachel said: “I had a ring made with my mum’s ashes probably about two years ago and it was just beautiful. I loved the personal touch so I thought ‘I’m going to look into this’.

"I’m a creative soul anyway and set up White Feather Memorials to pass on that comfort as well to people. I’m spiritually in touch and quite sentimental.

“I’ve lost my mum, dad and a baby and I think it made me very aware of grief and you need a comfort in those times. I’m loving it, I’ve got orders that are coming in mainly through friends and social media. I can use cat, dog and human ashes, as well as hair and fur, clothes, breastmilk and umbilical cords.

READ MORE: Permanent jewellery business proves successful in Swindon

“I used a scan photo from the baby I lost because that’s all I had, so I set that in a memorial heart.

“It’s a real tailor-made bespoke service, I want to get to know my clients. People come to me and they’ve usually got loads of questions, it can take hours of emailing back and forth but I want it to be right.

“People have contacted me to say they still have ashes after 15 years and want to do something but not sure what, they want to keep them but not sat in a pot in the cupboard, they want something they can wear everyday and take with them all the time.

“I make them on my own and I’ve got children but I wouldn’t have them in the room. It’s about the individual make. Even if the business takes off and becomes the biggest memorial jewellery company, I would still keep that ethos. You’ve got to establish a trust with somebody.

“I want people to send me photos of their loved ones or pets and make it like a real memorial for them – pop it on my website or social media. I make a big thing of every time I get someone in, I light a candle and welcome them. It’s really heart-warming and an honour", she added.