Manchester Evening News death notices are published through funeral-notices.co.uk, the official announcements partner for the MEN, and can be searched online for free at any time. When someone in Greater Manchester passes away, their family or funeral director can submit a death notice, obituary, in memoriam, acknowledgement, or funeral report to appear both in the printed MEN newspaper and on its dedicated online announcements portal. The MEN’s partnership with funeral-notices.co.uk gives the Greater Manchester community one of the most comprehensive, searchable, and accessible regional obituary databases in England — currently hosting over 224,000 announcements for the North West alone, spanning every category from standard death notices and in memoriams to birthday remembrances, prayers, and lasting tribute pages. In this complete guide, you will learn exactly how to search for a death notice in the Manchester Evening News, how to submit one on behalf of a loved one, what each type of announcement means, what the costs are, how the MEN’s obituary section has evolved over time, and where else you can find notices for Greater Manchester. Whether you are bereaved, making arrangements, or researching local history, this guide covers everything you need to know.
What Are MEN Death Notices?
Death Notices vs. Obituaries Explained
A death notice and an obituary are related but distinct types of announcement, and the Manchester Evening News publishes both. A death notice is a formal, typically brief announcement of a person’s death that states the name of the deceased, the date of passing, sometimes the age or place of death, and details of the forthcoming funeral or cremation service. It is usually submitted by the family or the funeral director handling the arrangements and is intended primarily to inform the wider community of the death and the service details. Obituaries, by contrast, are longer biographical tributes that celebrate the life of the person who has died — covering their career, family, achievements, personality, and the impact they had on those around them.
In practice, many families submit a combined notice that contains both the essential facts of the death and a brief personal tribute. The Manchester Evening News publishes everything from single-paragraph death notices to extended, photo-illustrated obituaries that run to several hundred words. The choice of length and format is entirely up to the family submitting the notice, and the cost varies accordingly based on word count, the inclusion of photographs, and whether the announcement appears in print, online, or both.
In Memoriams and Acknowledgements
Beyond death notices and obituaries, the Manchester Evening News publishes a wide range of related announcements that help families and communities mark significant moments in their grief journeys. An in memoriam notice is published on the anniversary of a death — most commonly on the first anniversary, but often on multiple subsequent anniversaries — to remember and honour someone who has passed. Acknowledgements are notices published by families to thank those who attended a funeral, sent cards or flowers, or otherwise offered support during a period of bereavement. Birthday memoriams mark the birthday of someone who has died, allowing families to publicly acknowledge that the person is still missed and loved even in their absence.
The Manchester Evening News also facilitates lasting tribute pages — permanent online memorials that allow family members, friends, former colleagues, and community members to leave messages of condolence and remembrance free of charge. These pages can receive tributes, candles, photographs, and messages indefinitely, creating a living, evolving memorial that exists long after the formal notice period has ended. As of 2025, the funeral-notices.co.uk platform hosts over 5 million notices across the UK, with the Greater Manchester section alone accounting for more than 224,000 entries across all announcement categories.
How to Search MEN Death Notices
Using funeral-notices.co.uk
The primary way to search Manchester Evening News death notices is through the official portal at funeral-notices.co.uk/North+West-Greater+Manchester. This website, operated by Reach plc (the MEN’s parent company) in conjunction with funeral directors across the region, serves as the central repository for all MEN-affiliated death announcements. The search interface is straightforward and accessible to anyone with internet access, and searching for notices is entirely free of charge.
To find a specific person’s notice, you can use the search bar on the funeral-notices.co.uk homepage and type the person’s name. Results can be filtered by category (death notices, in memoriams, acknowledgements, birthday memoriams, and so on), by date (to find notices from a specific period), by alphabetical order (useful when browsing recent notices for a particular initial), and by region (to narrow results to Greater Manchester specifically rather than the wider North West). You can also sort results by “Latest Notices” to see the most recently submitted announcements first, which is useful for checking whether a notice for someone who has recently passed away has been published yet.
Browsing by Date and Category
For those who want to browse rather than search for a specific name, the funeral-notices.co.uk platform offers a “Today’s Notices” function that shows all announcements submitted for the current day across all categories in Greater Manchester. On a typical day, the Greater Manchester section sees between fifteen and thirty new submissions across all notice categories, though this number varies considerably depending on the time of year (notices tend to be more numerous in winter months, which see higher mortality rates), the day of the week (funeral arrangements are most commonly finalised on weekdays), and whether any notable local figures have passed away recently.
Searching by date range is particularly useful for those trying to locate a notice that was published weeks or months ago. The platform maintains a comprehensive archive of all notices submitted since its launch, meaning that notices published many years ago remain searchable and accessible online. This archive function is invaluable for genealogical research, for families who want to revisit a tribute published for a loved one, and for community historians tracking significant local figures. Unlike the printed MEN, which exists in physical archives and microfilm collections that require library access, the online funeral-notices.co.uk archive is available to anyone with internet access at any time.
Setting Up Custom Alerts
One of the most practical features of the funeral-notices.co.uk platform for Manchester Evening News users is the ability to set up custom email alerts. By registering for a free account, users can configure the system to notify them by email whenever a new notice is published that matches specific criteria — such as notices from a particular area of Greater Manchester (for example, Salford, Stockport, or Oldham), notices for people with a specific surname (useful for tracking family notifications), or notices in a particular category. These alerts are particularly valuable for those who want to stay informed about deaths in their local community without having to check the portal manually every day.
Registering on funeral-notices.co.uk is free and takes only a few minutes. Once registered, users can also save important notices to their account for future reference, leave tributes and messages of condolence on notice pages, and access a personalised feed of announcements tailored to their preferences. The registration process requires only an email address and a password, and the platform’s privacy policy ensures that user data is not shared with third parties for marketing purposes without consent.
How to Place a MEN Death Notice
Step-by-Step Submission Process
Placing a death notice in the Manchester Evening News is a process that can be initiated either directly by a family member or, more commonly, through the deceased’s funeral director. Most funeral directors in Greater Manchester are registered partners of funeral-notices.co.uk, meaning they have direct access to the submission system and can place notices on behalf of the families they serve as part of their standard funeral arrangement service. Families working with a registered funeral director simply need to provide the wording they want to appear in the notice, along with any photographs and details of the funeral service, and the funeral director will handle the technical submission process.
For families who wish to submit a notice themselves — for example, if they are arranging a direct cremation without a funeral director, or if they wish to submit an in memoriam notice years after the funeral — the funeral-notices.co.uk website allows direct family submissions. The process involves selecting the type of notice (death notice, obituary, in memoriam, acknowledgement, etc.), choosing the publication (Manchester Evening News), writing the notice text using the platform’s online editor, uploading any photographs, specifying the funeral service details if applicable, and completing payment. Once submitted, notices typically go through a review process before publication to ensure accuracy and compliance with the platform’s standards.
What to Include in a Death Notice
A well-written Manchester Evening News death notice typically includes the following elements: the full name of the deceased (surname in capitals is conventional), the date of passing, the age at death, the town or area in which they lived, a brief personal tribute or description of the person’s life and character, the names of close family members who are mourning (typically spouse, children, and sometimes grandchildren), details of the funeral or cremation service including the date, time, and venue, and an instruction about floral tributes or charitable donations in lieu of flowers. Many notices also include a poem, a prayer, or a short passage of scripture, particularly for those with religious convictions.
The tone and length of a notice is entirely personal. Some families opt for brevity and dignity — a straightforward factual announcement of the death and funeral details that conveys respect without elaboration. Others choose to write extended tributes that paint a vivid picture of the person who has died, celebrating their life, their achievements, their sense of humour, and the ways in which they touched the lives of those around them. Both approaches are equally valid, and the funeral-notices.co.uk platform accommodates notices of all lengths, charging according to the word count and the inclusion of photographs.
Photographs in Notices
Including a photograph in a Manchester Evening News death notice is one of the most meaningful decisions a family can make when preparing the announcement. A photograph transforms a notice from a factual announcement into a genuine tribute, giving readers who knew the deceased a visual reminder of the person they are mourning, and giving those who did not know them a sense of who the person was. The funeral-notices.co.uk platform supports the inclusion of multiple photographs in a single notice, and photos can be uploaded digitally or provided to the funeral director for scanning and submission.
Photographs used in death notices can range from recent portraits taken in the final years of life to beloved images from younger days, wedding photographs, pictures with family members, or holiday snapshots that capture the person’s personality. There is no formal requirement for a specific type of photograph, and many families choose images that reflect something essential about the person — a keen gardener photographed in their garden, a devoted grandparent pictured with grandchildren, a lifelong football supporter wearing their team’s colours. Including a photograph does add to the cost of the notice, but many families find it an essential element of a proper and loving tribute.
Types of MEN Announcements
Death Notices: The Core Category
Death notices are the most common type of announcement in the Manchester Evening News and form the largest category on the funeral-notices.co.uk platform — with over 123,762 death notices listed for the Greater Manchester and North West area at the time of writing. A death notice is the formal public announcement that a person has died. It is typically published within a few days of the death, often around the same time as the funeral arrangements are confirmed, so that people who knew the deceased can be informed and can make plans to attend the service or send their condolences. Most death notices are submitted by the funeral director handling the arrangements, who will include the notice as part of their standard service to the bereaved family.
Death notices in the Manchester Evening News appear both in the print edition of the newspaper — in the dedicated notices section, which is one of the most consistently read pages in any regional newspaper — and online at funeral-notices.co.uk, where they remain permanently accessible and searchable. For the print edition, notices are typically published on the days closest to the funeral date to ensure maximum visibility among those who might wish to attend. Online publication is typically immediate or within 24 hours of submission.
In Memoriams: Annual Remembrance
In memoriam notices — listed as “In Memoriams” on the funeral-notices.co.uk platform, with over 58,463 entries for the North West region — are annual tributes published on or around the anniversary of a person’s death. They are one of the most personal and touching forms of announcement in the Manchester Evening News, reflecting the fact that grief does not end with the funeral and that families continue to remember and honour those they have lost for many years — often decades — after the death. Many families submit in memoriam notices every year for decades after a loved one’s passing, creating a continuous public record of ongoing remembrance.
The content of in memoriam notices varies widely, but they commonly include the name and dates of the deceased, a brief message from the family expressing that they are missed and remembered, and often a poem, a prayer, or a personalised message that captures something specific about the person or the family’s grief. Many in memoriam notices are submitted around significant dates beyond the anniversary of death — Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and birthdays are all common occasions for in memoriam tributes in the MEN. The platform specifically offers seasonal categories including Christmas Memoriams, Mother’s Day Remembrance, and Father’s Day Remembrance to accommodate these needs.
Acknowledgements: Expressions of Gratitude
Acknowledgement notices, with over 33,717 entries in the Greater Manchester and North West category, are published by bereaved families to express their gratitude to all those who supported them through the period of bereavement. Typically published one to four weeks after the funeral, an acknowledgement notice thanks those who attended the service, sent flowers, donated to charity in the deceased’s memory, sent cards or letters of condolence, or simply offered their support in practical or emotional ways during an extremely difficult time.
Acknowledgement notices in the Manchester Evening News range from brief, formal expressions of thanks to warm and detailed messages that specifically mention particularly meaningful gestures of support. Some families use acknowledgement notices to share details of how much money was raised for charity during the funeral, expressing gratitude for the generosity of those who contributed. Others use the space to provide an update on the family’s situation after the immediate bereavement period, assuring friends and community members that they are coping and that their support has been deeply appreciated.
Birthday Memoriams
Birthday memoriam notices — over 8,412 in the North West section alone — are among the most emotionally distinctive entries in the Manchester Evening News announcements section. Published on what would have been a loved one’s birthday, they reflect the painful awareness that the anniversary of a birth becomes, after a death, a day of both celebration and grief — a day for holding the memory of the person in mind, marking that they would have been a certain age, and publicly affirming that they are not forgotten. Birthday memoriams are particularly common for those who died young, for parents and grandparents whose birthdays were previously significant family occasions, and for those whose personalities were especially bound up with celebration and joy.
Funeral Reports and Lasting Tributes
Funeral reports are a distinctive type of announcement in which a brief account of a funeral or memorial service is published, typically noting the venue, the presiding clergy or celebrant, the music played, the readings delivered, the floral tributes received, and the names of those who attended. They function as a public record of a private ceremony and are particularly common for community figures — retired teachers, long-serving local councillors, prominent business people, or anyone whose funeral attracted a large number of mourners from across a wide community. Lasting tribute pages are permanent online memorials that can be created on funeral-notices.co.uk in connection with any death notice and remain live indefinitely, allowing an unlimited number of people to leave messages, photographs, and virtual candles.
Costs and Pricing in 2025
How Much Does a Notice Cost?
The cost of placing a death notice in the Manchester Evening News varies depending on the length of the notice, the inclusion of photographs, and whether the announcement is published in print only, online only, or in both formats. As of 2025, a standard online-only death notice on funeral-notices.co.uk without a photograph starts at a relatively modest price that makes it accessible to families managing the financial pressures of bereavement. Print publication in the MEN newspaper carries an additional cost, and the inclusion of photographs adds further to the overall price.
In October 2022, Reach plc (the MEN’s parent company) increased the cost of notices appearing in its newspapers by £5 plus VAT — a change that applied across all Reach regional titles, including the Manchester Evening News. This adjustment reflected broader inflationary pressures on print production costs that were affecting the newspaper industry across the UK at that time. For the current and most accurate pricing, families and funeral directors are advised to contact funeral-notices.co.uk directly, as pricing is subject to change and varies depending on the specific notice type, word count, and publication options chosen.
Free Elements of the Service
While placing a death notice does carry a cost, several elements of the funeral-notices.co.uk service connected with the Manchester Evening News are available entirely free of charge. Online tributes — messages of condolence and remembrance left by friends, family, colleagues, and community members on a notice page — can be added free of charge by anyone and remain on the page permanently. Virtual candles, also free, can be lit on any notice page as a gesture of respect and remembrance. Lasting tribute pages, once created in connection with a paid notice, can continue to receive free tributes and photographs indefinitely.
Charitable donations can also be set up on any notice, free of charge to both families and funeral directors. The donation facility allows notices to direct readers to donate to specified charities in memory of the deceased, with online donations collected directly by the platform and forwarded to the nominated charity, including Gift Aid where applicable. The donation profile remains active for five weeks, after which the collected funds are sent to the charity, saving families the administrative burden of collecting and forwarding donations themselves.
Comparing Costs Across Notice Types
The most cost-effective option for families wishing to use the Manchester Evening News to announce a death is a standard online death notice without a photograph and without print publication. This option ensures that the notice is searchable and accessible through the funeral-notices.co.uk platform indefinitely, reaches anyone searching for the deceased’s name, and can receive unlimited free tributes from those who knew the person. Adding print publication significantly increases the cost but also significantly increases the visibility of the notice, particularly among older readers who may not regularly use the internet or the funeral-notices.co.uk platform.
Many funeral directors in Greater Manchester include the cost of a basic online death notice in their standard funeral arrangement fees, meaning that families may not need to make a separate payment for this element of the service. It is always worth asking the funeral director explicitly about notice arrangements when making funeral plans, to understand what is included in the fee and what would require an additional payment.
The Manchester Evening News: Background and History
Founded in 1868
The Manchester Evening News is one of the oldest and most significant regional newspapers in the United Kingdom, having been founded on 10 October 1868 by Mitchell Henry as part of his parliamentary election campaign. The first issue was just four pages long, cost a halfpenny, and was produced by a small team working from a modest office on Brown Street in Manchester city centre. From these humble beginnings, the MEN grew steadily throughout the Victorian era and into the twentieth century, becoming an essential part of Manchester’s civic and cultural life.
During the editorship of William Haley in the 1930s — Haley later became Director-General of the BBC and editor of The Times — the MEN’s circulation grew beyond 200,000. By 1939, it was the largest provincial evening newspaper in the country. In the 1960s, the MEN merged with its long-standing rival the Manchester Evening Chronicle, absorbing its popular “Sporting Pink” football supplement and further consolidating its position as the dominant regional newspaper in Greater Manchester. At its peak in the late twentieth century, the MEN’s circulation exceeded 480,000 copies per day — a remarkable figure that reflects the central role the newspaper played in the daily life of the region.
Reach plc Ownership
Today, the Manchester Evening News is owned by Reach plc — formerly known as Trinity Mirror — one of Britain’s largest commercial news publishers, whose portfolio includes the Daily Mirror, the Daily Express, the Liverpool Echo, and over 120 other print and digital brands. Reach plc acquired the MEN in February 2010, purchasing it from Guardian Media Group as part of a £44 million deal that also brought 22 associated regional titles under the company’s ownership. The acquisition reflected Trinity Mirror’s strategy of building scale in regional media to offset declining print revenues through efficiency and shared production infrastructure.
Under Reach’s ownership, the MEN has undergone a significant transformation from a primarily print-based publication to a digital-first news brand. In 2014, the MEN adopted a digital-first editorial strategy, which prioritised online publication over print and invested in building the newspaper’s website, manchestereveningnews.co.uk, into the most-read regional news website in the UK. By May 2025, the site was attracting over 10 million monthly unique visitors — a figure that had grown 20% from the prior year — and by October 2025 this had reached 13.8 million monthly users. The print edition of the MEN, which publishes Monday through Saturday with a Sunday edition added in February 2019, had a circulation of approximately 5,291 copies per day in the first half of 2025, down from a peak of over 480,000 in previous decades.
Digital Transformation and MEN Premium
In November 2025, the Manchester Evening News launched its first-ever subscription service, MEN Premium, marking a significant strategic shift in the publication’s revenue model. Priced at £4.99 per month (with the first month available for £1) or £39.99 annually, MEN Premium offers subscribers exclusive content, an ad-lite browsing experience, access to The Edit (a weekly long-read curation), The News Digest (a daily morning and lunchtime briefing), and the Mancunian Way evening newsletter. The launch followed the appointment of Harry Fawkes as Reach’s first dedicated digital subscriptions head in September 2025, and reflected a broader industry shift toward supplementing advertising revenue with direct reader payments.
The death notices and announcements section has remained one of the MEN’s most consistently engaged sections throughout all phases of the newspaper’s digital transformation. While news content increasingly competes with free online alternatives, the obituaries and death notices function fulfils a specific community need — informing local people about the deaths of those they knew — that cannot easily be replicated by national platforms. For this reason, the MEN’s partnership with funeral-notices.co.uk has remained central to its community role even as other aspects of the publication have evolved dramatically.
Greater Manchester: Community and Bereavement
The Importance of Local Death Notices
In Greater Manchester — a metropolitan county of around 2.8 million people spread across ten local authority areas including Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan — the Manchester Evening News death notices section serves a vital community function. Despite the growth of social media as a vehicle for sharing news of a death, the MEN notice remains the most formal and widely recognised way of publicly announcing a bereavement in the region. Many people still check the MEN death notices as a matter of routine, both in print and online, to stay informed about deaths in their community and to ensure they are aware of funeral arrangements for people they know.
The notices section also serves a significant archival function. Families who have lived in Greater Manchester for generations will often find notices for their relatives in the MEN’s archives going back many decades, providing a valuable historical record of local life and death that complements official registrations and census records. For genealogical researchers, historians of local communities, and those tracing their family history, the ability to search the MEN’s digitised and online notice archives is an extraordinarily useful resource.
Grief Support and Community
The Manchester Evening News death notices section operates within a broader ecosystem of grief support resources in Greater Manchester. Cruse Bereavement Care operates a national helpline (0808 808 1677) and has a local Manchester presence offering individual and group counselling to those experiencing bereavement. St Ann’s Hospice, one of Greater Manchester’s most respected palliative care providers, offers bereavement support to the families of those who have died in its care. Marie Curie has a significant presence in Greater Manchester, providing palliative nursing care at home and supporting families through the dying process and its immediate aftermath.
The MEN itself, through its editorial content, has covered grief and bereavement themes sympathetically over many decades — from reporting on the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017 (which resulted in the deaths of 22 people and required the newspaper to manage an unprecedented volume of community grief) to regular features on end-of-life planning, hospice care, and the changing cultural attitudes toward death and mourning in contemporary Britain. The newspaper’s death notices section is, in this context, just one part of a wider role it plays in helping Greater Manchester’s communities navigate loss.
The Manchester Arena Attack: A Historical Landmark
No discussion of death and public grief in the context of the Manchester Evening News would be complete without acknowledging the Manchester Arena bombing of 22 May 2017, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the conclusion of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people and injuring hundreds more. The attack was the deadliest terrorist incident in the UK since the 7/7 London bombings of 2005, and its impact on Manchester and its communities was profound and lasting. The Manchester Evening News played a central role in covering the aftermath of the attack, publishing tributes and death notices for each of the 22 victims, providing ongoing coverage of the funerals and memorial services, and offering its platform as a space for the community to grieve and to celebrate the lives of those lost.
The MEN’s coverage of the Manchester Arena attack — widely praised for its sensitivity, thoroughness, and commitment to centring the stories of the victims and their families — stands as one of the most significant examples of local journalism fulfilling its community function in the modern era. The newspaper’s death notices and obituaries for the 22 victims, many of them young people attending their first major concert, were among the most widely read and deeply felt announcements in the publication’s long history.
Alternative Sources for Greater Manchester Notices
Other Platforms and Publications
While the Manchester Evening News via funeral-notices.co.uk is the primary source for death notices in Greater Manchester, it is not the only one. The Bolton News, the Oldham Evening Chronicle, the Salford City Reporter, the Stockport Express, and various other local and community papers that cover specific parts of Greater Manchester each have their own death notices sections, and families in those areas may choose to place notices in local papers in addition to or instead of the MEN. The Bury Times, the Rochdale Observer, and the Tameside Reporter are other examples of Greater Manchester local papers with active death notices sections serving their specific communities.
The British Newspaper Archive at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk holds digitised editions of the Manchester Evening News going back to its founding in 1868, making it possible to search historical death notices and obituaries from many decades ago. This resource is particularly valuable for genealogical research and family history projects. Access to the archive requires a subscription, but many public libraries — including Manchester Central Library — provide free access to the archive through their digital resources.
Legacy.com and Find-a-Grave
Legacy.com, an international obituary platform, includes notices from UK newspapers including Greater Manchester publications and can be a useful secondary search option for those unable to find a notice through funeral-notices.co.uk. The platform aggregates notices from multiple sources and allows users to leave condolences and share memories on obituary pages. Find-a-Grave (findagrave.com) is another useful resource for those researching historic deaths in Greater Manchester, with an extensive database of burial and cremation records contributed by volunteers and users worldwide.
Manchester City Council’s cemeteries and cremation service maintains records for those buried or cremated at council-managed sites, and these records can be accessed through the council’s official website or by contacting the council’s Bereavement Services team directly. The General Register Office holds official death registration records for England and Wales and can provide certified copies of death certificates for deaths registered in Greater Manchester since civil registration began in 1837. These official records are the most authoritative source for confirmed death information but are not the same as the community-facing notices published by the Manchester Evening News.
Social Media and Community Groups
Facebook groups dedicated to sharing death notices in the Manchester area — including a dedicated page called “Manchester Deaths and Funeral Notices,” which aggregates notices from funeral-notices.co.uk — provide another way for the community to stay informed about local bereavements. These groups typically post links to notices published on the funeral-notices.co.uk platform rather than hosting original content, and they can be useful for those who prefer to receive updates through their social media feed rather than visiting the funeral-notices.co.uk website directly.
It is important to note, however, that social media groups and pages of this kind vary in their reliability and completeness. They are not official channels and do not carry the same authority or permanence as the MEN’s official notices portal. For the most comprehensive and reliable search for a Greater Manchester death notice, funeral-notices.co.uk remains the definitive source.
Legacy.com and Independent Platforms
Legacy.com is an international obituary and death notices platform that aggregates content from newspapers and funeral homes across the UK and worldwide, including notices from Greater Manchester publications. While it does not replicate the MEN’s notices portal in terms of completeness or specificity to the region, it can serve as a useful cross-reference for those who cannot locate a notice elsewhere. The platform also allows users to leave condolences and share memories, functioning similarly to the tribute pages on funeral-notices.co.uk.
Funeral Guide (funeralguide.co.uk) offers a searchable database of UK obituaries submitted by participating funeral directors, with filtering by location. While its coverage of Greater Manchester is less comprehensive than funeral-notices.co.uk, it is a valuable secondary resource and includes useful information about funeral directors, crematoria, and cemeteries across the region. For older notices and historical research, the Manchester Local Studies and Archives Centre within Manchester Central Library holds one of the most comprehensive collections of local historical records in the North West, including physical and microfilm copies of the Manchester Evening News going back to the nineteenth century.
Practical Information for Families
What to Do When Someone Dies
When someone dies in Greater Manchester, the immediate practical steps involve contacting a GP or attending doctor to confirm the death and issue a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD), registering the death at a local register office within five days of receiving the MCCD (a legal requirement in England and Wales), choosing a funeral director to handle the arrangements, and deciding on the type of funeral or cremation service. The registration of the death is carried out in person at any register office in Greater Manchester and must be completed before funeral arrangements can be finalised.
Death registration in Greater Manchester can be done at Manchester Register Office (Heron House, 47 Lloyd Street, Manchester, M2 5LE), as well as at register offices in each of the ten boroughs. The register office will provide certified copies of the death certificate, which are needed for a range of official purposes including notifying banks, pension providers, and other financial institutions of the death. Multiple certified copies are usually required, as different organisations will ask for originals rather than photocopies.
Choosing a Funeral Director in Manchester
Greater Manchester has hundreds of funeral directors, ranging from large national companies to independent family-run businesses that have served specific communities for generations. When choosing a funeral director, families are advised to look for membership of a recognised professional body — the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) or the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) — which provides assurance that the director adheres to a code of professional practice. The Good Funeral Guide and the Funeral Guide website both offer independent reviews and information about funeral directors in Manchester.
The cost of a funeral in Greater Manchester varies considerably depending on the type of service chosen. A direct cremation — the most basic option, with no funeral service and no witnesses — can cost as little as £1,000 to £1,500. A standard cremation with a funeral service at a crematorium typically costs between £2,500 and £4,500. A full traditional burial with a service can cost £4,000 to £8,000 or more, depending on the funeral director, the cemetery, the coffin, and the other elements included. The MEN death notices section regularly includes notices for people who have been cremated at Manchester’s three main crematoria: Manchester Crematorium in Blackley, Stockport Crematorium, and Leigh Crematorium.
Choosing a Funeral Director in Manchester
Greater Manchester has hundreds of funeral directors, ranging from large national companies to independent family-run businesses that have served specific communities for generations. When choosing a funeral director, families are advised to look for membership of a recognised professional body — the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) or the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) — which provides assurance that the director adheres to a code of professional practice. The Good Funeral Guide and the Funeral Guide website both offer independent reviews and information about funeral directors in Manchester.
The cost of a funeral in Greater Manchester varies considerably depending on the type of service chosen. A direct cremation — the most basic option, with no funeral service and no witnesses — can cost as little as £1,000 to £1,500. A standard cremation with a funeral service at a crematorium typically costs between £2,500 and £4,500. A full traditional burial with a service can cost £4,000 to £8,000 or more, depending on the funeral director, the cemetery, the coffin, and the other elements included. The MEN death notices section regularly includes notices for people who have been cremated at Manchester’s three main crematoria: Manchester Crematorium in Blackley, Stockport Crematorium, and Leigh Crematorium.
Writing a Meaningful Death Notice
Many families find the task of writing a death notice for the Manchester Evening News unexpectedly challenging — not because the process is technically complex, but because the emotional weight of condensing a person’s life into a few hundred words is genuinely difficult. There is no single right way to write a death notice, and families should not feel that there is a specific format or style they must conform to. What matters most is that the notice feels true to the person who has died and conveys something genuine about who they were and why they will be missed.
Some practical guidance can help families approach this task. Begin with the essential facts: the person’s full name (surname typically in capitals for clarity and searchability), the date of death, the age at death, and the town or area where they lived. Then add a brief personal tribute — something that captures the person’s character, their relationships, their passions, or their contribution to their community. Mentioning specific roles that defined them (devoted husband, beloved mother, proud Manchester City supporter, dedicated nurse for thirty years at Manchester Royal Infirmary) grounds the tribute in the specific reality of who the person was rather than in generic phrases that could apply to anyone.
If the family wishes to include a poem, a prayer, or a passage of scripture, these elements can add great meaning to a notice, particularly for families with religious convictions or for those who find that certain words express what they cannot find the language for themselves. Popular choices for MEN death notices include “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep” by Mary Elizabeth Frye, the 23rd Psalm, the Prayer of St Francis, and various traditional Irish and Northern English poems and verses. The funeral director or a bereavement counsellor can provide suggestions if the family is uncertain what to include.
Finally, include the funeral details: the date, time, and venue of the service, and any instructions about flowers (family flowers only, or donations to a specific charity in lieu of flowers). These practical details are often the primary reason people read death notices, and ensuring they are clearly and accurately stated is essential to the notice fulfilling its informational purpose.
Registering Online Alerts
As previously noted, registering for a free account on funeral-notices.co.uk allows Greater Manchester residents to set up email alerts for new death notices matching their criteria. This is particularly useful for those who wish to stay informed about deaths in their local area, among former colleagues or classmates, or within a particular community. To register, visit funeral-notices.co.uk and click “Register” in the top navigation. The process takes approximately two minutes and requires only an email address and password. Once registered, navigate to “My Alerts” in the account settings to configure the parameters of the notifications you wish to receive.
Manchester Evening News Deaths: A 2025 Overview
Volume and Patterns of Notices
In 2025, the Manchester Evening News publishes death notices for a significant proportion of deaths occurring in Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester has a population of approximately 2.8 million people and experiences approximately 25,000 to 30,000 deaths per year, based on national mortality statistics proportioned to the region’s population. Not all of these deaths result in a published MEN notice — some families choose not to publish, some use alternative publications or platforms, and some announce only through social media or private channels. However, the MEN remains the most widely used formal public announcement channel for deaths in Greater Manchester, and the volume of notices on funeral-notices.co.uk reflects this.
The peak periods for death notices in the Manchester Evening News, as for all regional newspapers, correspond to the winter months of January and February, when mortality rates in the UK are consistently highest due to seasonal respiratory illnesses, cold-weather-related cardiovascular events, and seasonal influenza. The period immediately following Christmas and New Year is typically one of the busiest for notices, as deaths that occurred during the holiday period are formally announced in the first weeks of January. Summer months generally see a lower volume of notices, though this pattern has become less pronounced in recent years as exceptionally warm summers have increased heat-related mortality among elderly populations.
Notable Community Obituaries
The Manchester Evening News publishes obituaries for a wide range of people across Greater Manchester — from civic leaders, business figures, and local politicians to sports personalities, artists, entertainers, and ordinary community members who made a significant impact on those around them. In recent years, the MEN has made a particular effort to expand its obituaries coverage beyond the traditionally noticed categories (the wealthy, the prominent, the professionally distinguished) to include a wider range of community voices — long-serving local volunteers, beloved teachers, community champions, and those whose lives, while not conventionally notable, were deeply meaningful to the communities they inhabited.
This more inclusive approach to obituaries reflects a broader cultural shift in how death and remembrance are treated in British media. The Guardian’s “Other Lives” section, which publishes obituaries for people who would not normally feature in newspapers, has been particularly influential in demonstrating that every death is worth marking and that the lives of ordinary people contain extraordinary stories worth telling. The MEN’s approach to its obituaries section embodies similar values — recognising that for the families and friends of the person who has died, no one is ordinary, and that every life deserves to be honoured with the care and attention it merits.
FAQs
How do I search for a death notice in the Manchester Evening News?
To search for a Manchester Evening News death notice, go to funeral-notices.co.uk and type the person’s name into the search bar. You can filter results by region (select Greater Manchester or North West), by category (death notices, in memoriams, etc.), and by date range to narrow your search. The search is completely free and the archive covers notices going back many years, so historical searches are also possible. If you cannot find a notice, it may not have been published yet, may have been placed in a local rather than regional paper, or may not have been submitted at all.
How do I place a death notice in the Manchester Evening News?
Death notices in the Manchester Evening News are placed through funeral-notices.co.uk, the official MEN announcements partner. Most funeral directors in Greater Manchester are registered with the platform and can submit notices on your behalf as part of their standard service. Alternatively, families can submit notices directly through the website by selecting “Create a Notice,” choosing Manchester Evening News as the publication, and following the step-by-step submission process. Payment is made online and notices are typically published within 24 hours of submission.
How much does a Manchester Evening News death notice cost?
The cost of a Manchester Evening News death notice depends on the length of the notice, the inclusion of photographs, and whether it appears in print, online, or both. Online-only notices without photographs represent the most affordable option. Print publication carries an additional cost, and photographs also add to the price. In October 2022, notice costs increased by £5 plus VAT across all Reach plc regional titles. For current prices, contact funeral-notices.co.uk directly or ask your funeral director, as pricing is subject to change.
Can I place an in memoriam notice in the MEN?
Yes. The Manchester Evening News publishes in memoriam notices — annual tributes marking the anniversary of a death — through the same funeral-notices.co.uk platform used for death notices. You can also submit birthday memoriams (marking the birthday of someone who has died), Christmas memoriams, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day remembrances, and other seasonal tributes. These can be submitted directly by family members without involving a funeral director.
Are MEN death notices searchable online?
Yes, all Manchester Evening News death notices published through funeral-notices.co.uk are searchable online through that platform, free of charge. Notices remain in the archive permanently and can be found by searching the person’s name. Older notices published in the print edition before the digital era are available through the British Newspaper Archive, which holds digitised MEN editions. Some older notices are also available through Manchester Central Library’s local history resources.
What is the difference between a death notice and an obituary?
A death notice is a brief formal announcement that someone has died, typically including the date of death, age, location, and funeral details. An obituary is a longer biographical tribute celebrating the life and achievements of the deceased. The Manchester Evening News publishes both, often in a combined format where the death notice details are accompanied by a more personal tribute. Obituaries tend to be longer, more narrative in style, and may include quotations from family members and friends.
Can I leave a tribute on a MEN death notice?
Yes. Anyone can leave a free tribute on a Manchester Evening News death notice published through funeral-notices.co.uk. Tributes can be left by visiting the notice page, scrolling to the tributes section, and writing a message of condolence or remembrance. You can also light a virtual candle. Tributes remain on the notice page permanently and do not require registration, though registering for a free account allows you to save notices and manage your tributes.
How do I set up an alert for new MEN death notices?
Register for a free account at funeral-notices.co.uk and navigate to “My Alerts” in your account settings. You can set up email alerts for new notices from Greater Manchester, for specific surnames, or for specific locations within the region. Alerts are sent by email when a new notice matching your criteria is published. This is useful for staying informed about deaths in your community without having to check the website manually every day.
Where are MEN death notices published in print?
Manchester Evening News death notices appear in the print edition of the MEN newspaper, which publishes Monday through Saturday (with a Sunday edition available from February 2019 onwards). Notices are placed in the dedicated announcements section of the newspaper. The print edition is available at newsagents and convenience stores across Greater Manchester. As of early 2025, the MEN’s average weekday print circulation stood at approximately 5,291 copies per day.
How long does a MEN death notice stay online?
Death notices published through funeral-notices.co.uk remain online permanently as part of the platform’s searchable archive. There is no expiry date for notices, and they can continue to receive free tributes from family, friends, and community members indefinitely. Lasting tribute pages, which are more detailed memorial pages connected to a notice, also remain live permanently, providing a permanent online memorial for the person who has died.
Can I search historical MEN death notices?
Yes. For notices published through the funeral-notices.co.uk platform, the archive extends back many years and is searchable online for free. For notices published in the print edition of the Manchester Evening News before the digital era, the British Newspaper Archive (britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) holds digitised editions of the MEN going back to its founding in 1868, though access to this archive requires a subscription. Manchester Central Library also holds physical and microfilm archives of the MEN and can assist with historical notice research.
What is the funeral-notices.co.uk relationship with the MEN?
Funeral-notices.co.uk is the official death notices and obituaries partner for the Manchester Evening News and is operated by Reach plc, the MEN’s parent company. When a death notice is submitted to appear in the Manchester Evening News, it is submitted through this platform. The website is the primary digital home for all MEN-affiliated death notices, in memoriams, acknowledgements, and other announcements, and hosts over 224,000 entries for the Greater Manchester and North West region.
What should I do if I cannot find a notice I’m looking for?
If you cannot find a specific death notice on funeral-notices.co.uk, there are several possible explanations. The notice may not have been published yet — particularly if the death is very recent. It may have been placed in a local rather than regional paper (for example, the Bolton News or Oldham Evening Chronicle rather than the MEN). The family may have chosen not to place a public notice. Alternatively, a notice from many years ago may be in an older archive not fully digitised. If you believe a notice exists but cannot find it, try broadening your search terms, removing date filters, or contacting funeral-notices.co.uk’s customer service team directly for assistance.
How do I donate to a charity through a MEN death notice?
Many Manchester Evening News death notices include a link to a charitable donation facility. If the family has nominated a charity, a “Donate” button will appear on the notice page. Clicking this allows you to make a donation directly through the platform, which collects donations on behalf of the nominated charity for five weeks. The platform supports donations to up to five charities per notice and provides Gift Aid processing, adding an additional 25 pence per pound donated by eligible UK taxpayers at no additional cost to the donor or the family.
To Conclude
The Manchester Evening News death notices section — published through the official funeral-notices.co.uk portal and in the MEN’s daily print edition — serves as the primary and most trusted public record of deaths and bereavements in Greater Manchester, a region of 2.8 million people with a rich, complex, and deeply community-oriented culture. From its origins in the Victorian era, through its mid-twentieth-century peak circulation of nearly half a million copies per day, to its current role as one of the UK’s most widely read regional digital news brands, the MEN has always placed community announcements — births, deaths, marriages, achievements — at the heart of its mission.
Understanding how to search, submit, and engage with MEN death notices is an important piece of practical knowledge for everyone living in or connected to Greater Manchester. Whether you are looking for a notice for a recently lost loved one, submitting an in memoriam tribute on the anniversary of a death, placing a first death notice during the acute period of bereavement, or researching family history through decades of archived notices, the tools and pathways described in this guide are designed to make the process as accessible and straightforward as possible.
In a world where information travels at extraordinary speed and social media can spread news of a death across a network of hundreds of people within minutes, the death notice in a regional newspaper retains a unique function: it is the formal, permanent, publicly searchable record of a life that has ended and a community that is mourning. The Manchester Evening News, through its partnership with funeral-notices.co.uk and its commitment to serving Greater Manchester’s communities, continues to fulfil this function with the care and dignity it deserves.
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