Hawke’s Bay Coffin Club marks a decade of making ‘underground furniture’

For the men and women at the Hawke’s Bay Coffin Club, there is nothing better than picking up the tools to work on building, painting and lining coffins.

They have been doing so for a decade.

The club, opened by former Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule on October 7, 2014, will celebrate its 10-year anniversary by hosting an open day this Saturday to showcase the craft to the public.

Club secretary Helen Bromley has been a member for nine years and has yet to build her coffin but, at the age of 78, was proud to say she had helped many others build theirs.

Bromley said the club was a special place and the group liked to help the community be prepared for when the time came.

Helen Bromley says she enjoys helping people plan for the future. Photo / Michaela Gower

“It’s not morbid, it’s lots of fun, lots of laughter and people really enjoy it.”

The club specialises in coffins of all sizes.

Bromley said any member of the public could use the service and work with club members to design their “final bedroom”.

“We help the community and make reasonable coffins for a reasonable price.”

Buyers can purchase a coffin for $700, with a $40 cost for the lining and $50 for a top coat.

She said each coffin could be custom-made, right down to the colour, design and lining.

“We have had lions and horses and all sorts of things go out - there is one there at the moment that has just been done and it has bluebells on it.”

The club offers two styles, a casket and a coffin.

Bromley said the coffin shape was more popular in Hawke’s Bay.

“You decorate your house, why not decorate your coffin?”

Bromley said making a coffin for yourself or someone else was a therapeutic and a planned approach to death - for which she was a strong advocate.

“A few years ago people wouldn’t talk about death or what they had planned and what they were going to do.”

She said she did not feel as though being part of the club was tempting fate, and it was incredibly important to normalise conversations around death.

Bromley said an extra-special function of the club was making baby coffins that were donated all around the country and to the maternity ward at Hawke’s Bay Hospital.

Their donations ensured that parents had an opportunity to acknowledge the birth and death of their child and came with a knitted teddy bear as a keepsake.

“The ones that I do get upset about are the little ones - that’s quite hard,” Bromley said.

She said the coffins were given to the families free of charge and they were able to select one they felt was fitting for their child.

“That was one of the things we will never, ever charge for.”

She said they had recently delivered and donated 33 baby coffins to Lower Hutt.

The Coffin Club meets every Tuesday and was recently given a grant from Pub Charity, which went towards purchasing new power tools and equipment.

• The club invites the public to join them at their open day from 10am to 2pm on Saturday, October 5 at 707 Sylvan Rd, Parkvale, Hastings. There will be a sausage sizzle and demonstrations by the Radio Control Car Club and Pickleball Club, who share the premises.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.