White Heather pub offers free funerals

The White Heather, on Hendry Road, will put on free tea, coffee, and finger buffets to help families who are saying goodbye to loved ones.

Scott Allan, and his uncle Bobby Grubb took over the business earlier this year.

After a bit of refurbishment, they decided to find a way to give back to the community.

Bobby said his nephew came up with the idea to host free events for familes after funerals.

He said: “A lot of people who lose somebody and have the funeral; they often can’t afford to put on a buffet and all the rest of it.

“So what Scott thought is, why not put one on for free?

“We felt it was a good way to help the community.

“I think it helps people because there are a lot of expenses associated with funerals, and then after it some venues will charge for tea, coffee a few sandwiches and sausage rolls.

“It can be a tough time for families, so it’s just one thing less for them to worry about.”

Bobby said the feedback from grieving families was heart-warming, with many getting in touch after the funerals to offer thanks.

He said: “We’ve got three funerals lined-up for the next few weeks.

“It’s been well received.

“We’ve had cards from families afterwards thanking us.

“People really seem to appreciate it.”

Scott added: “We got in touch with a few funeral places in town to let them know what we were doing and we’ve had a few referred from Ian Johnston Funeral Directors already.

“Word of mouth is getting about so people are getting in touch to take us up on the offer.”

When the pair moved in, one of the first things that had to go was the name – the pub had traded under the name the Eagle’s Nest for some time.

However, it was quickly back to it’s more widely-remembered name of the White Heather.

Scott said it made sense as many people in Kirkcaldy had still continued to call it the White Heather.

He said: “You’d phone a taxi to come here and they might not know where the Eagle’s Nest is, but you say ‘the old white Heather’ they’d know exactly where it is.

“So we decided to put it back to the White Heather.”

The White Heather is also planning to host a kids Christmas party and Santa’s grotto on December 21.