Oh dear... I had budgeted according to the estimate the Funeral Director in Manchester had given me. He had planned to send me Robert's ashes via UPS for a cost of about £40. I did a bit of research, and it turns out that neither UPS nor any other international couriers accept to ship cremated remains:

United Parcel Service (UPS)

Cremated ashes are classified as prohibited items by UPS, which means you cannot send them via UPS. Families have been known to package them up and use the service without stating the contents of the packages, but this is a dangerous thing to do.

Although a better service than Royal Mail, we still wouldn’t recommend sending ashes via UPS due to the small chance your parcel could go missing.

https://www.urnsforashes.co.uk/transporting-ashes/#:~:text=United%20Parcel%20Service%20(UPS),a%20dangerous%20thing%20to%20do.

Excerpt fron TNT's website:

7. PROHIBITED ITEMS

7.1 FedEx Transportation prohibits the following items for shipment to any destination and you agree not to ship the same, unless expressly agreed otherwise by FedEx Transportation (additional restrictions may apply depending on destination):

a. Firearms, weaponry, ammunition and their parts;

b. 3-D printing machines designed, or that function exclusively, to manufacture firearms;

c. Explosives (class 1.4 explosives may be acceptable to and from some locations; further information available upon request), fireworks and other items of an incendiary or flammable nature;

d. Items resembling a bomb, hand grenade, or other explosive device. This includes but is not limited to inert products such as replicas, novelty items, training aids and works of art;

e. Military items originating from any country in which an export control license is required;

f. Human corpses, human organs or body parts, human or animal embryos, cremated or disinterred human remains;

The same applies to all the other international couriers.

So I did more research and found a company that specialises in shipping cremated ashes from the UK to all countries. I emailed them, and the cost is far more expensive. Here is their response:

Re: [Scattering Ashes Transporting] The UK-Geneva, Switzerland

Peter Kersley

Dear Vera

Thank you for your enquiry.

We can indeed assist with delivery to the nearest international airport to the consignee/receiver only.

The consignee would have to collect from the airport and clear customs and airline handling fees locally. (Normally between £80-£100)

Certain documents and packaging is required which I will send you via separate e-mails.

If you wish to proceed, firstly we need to have the ashes at our Premises. In order to do this, we will send you a bar-coded address label which brings the remains through the parcel network to our office. You can either take these to a local drop-off location (Most likely a convenient store in your local area) or alternatively we can book a taxi or courier to do this on your behalf at a cost of £30.00 + VAT.

Once we have the remains in our possession, we check over the paperwork and packaging and then take to Gatwick Airport where they are Air Freighted to the destination airport.

The cost for this service is £750.00 (There is no VAT involved unless collected) Which is inclusive of our Limit of Liability and all costs up to the designated airport.

Should you wish to instruct us to proceed we will require the following information:

Full name of the deceased

Address and contact details for collection

Address and contact details for Consignee / Receiver (Including e-mail address)

Address details for invoice purposes if different from collection address.

I hope that the information I have provided assists with your plans, and should you have any further questions please don't hesitate to give us a call on the number below.

Kind Regards

Peter Kersley

They are in London, so I doubt very much that the price of a taxi or courier from Manchester to London will only be £30.00 + VAT. Also, this doesn't include the price of an urn which I will purchase locally and online, in Switzerland - they do not come cheap. I found only one company that sells urns online in Switzerland:

https://www.urnengeschaft.ch (in the url on the error page you will land in, remove the %20 at the end of the url to reach that website)

I thought I had seen the light at the end of the tunnel, but it faded very fast. So, if anyone is willing to donate a bit more, I would be most grateful.

Here is the email I have just received from another company that specialises in shipping cremated remains from the UK to other countries in response to my email to them:

CRC | SpeedLink

Nov 25, 2020, 9:56 PM (2 hours ago)

to me

We are very sorry to hear of your loss. We will endeavour to make this process as smooth and hassle free for you as possible.

We have prepared the following quotation for you for a door-to-door service from UK to Geneva for cremated human remains.

The following cost is inclusive of:

Local UK collection to with hand carry delivery to Geneva Switzerland.

Total All-Inclusive Cost dependant on the UK collection Postcode: £1200 to £1600 plus VAT

Please let us know the collection postcode in the UK for an exact cost.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us direct on +44 1252 628785.

Best regards / Met vriendelijke groet / Bien cordialement / Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Joanne McMillen