A community has joined forces in an effort to search for the family and friends of a man whose ashes were discovered in a charity shop.

In October, an urn with Joseph Jesse Samms’ name on it was found among other donations by volunteers at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) shop in Bexleyheath.

On June 5, Victoria Keen, a funeral director at NS Wibberley in Beckenham, was approached by a volunteer at the BHF shop who wasn’t sure what to do with them.

The urn had a small number of details on the lid, including Joseph’s name and the date of the cremation.

Victoria agreed to help and emailed crematoriums in the area before hearing back from Kent and Sussex Crematorium in Tunbridge Wells, where Joseph’s funeral was held on October 8, 2004.

Victoria said: “They only had one contact number of his wife Linda, however she sadly died in January this year and the number didn’t connect.”

The crematorium then contacted funeral directors Welham Jones, based in Sevenoaks, which she said were “really helpful” but also had limited details.

Victoria added: “I then started posting in local Sevenoaks Facebook community groups as well as a local group to see if anyone could help.

“The response was heartwarming with lots and lots of people reposting and asking for people to help find Joseph’s family.

“They even left messages saying it was so nice that I was taking the time to try to reunite Joseph with his family.”

She was then contacted by a historian who ended up finding some of Linda’s family members on Facebook, who she messaged.

She added: “I have been speaking to Linda’s nephew’s wife who by chance had a mutual Facebook friend with me.

“She has been trying to find out information from Linda’s siblings who are mainly in the USA and Canada. They don’t really have much information on Joseph except he may have been known as Joe.

“Joseph and Linda were very private people and kept to themselves.”

The urn was initially donated to the BHF branch in Sevenoaks however was transferred to the Bexleyheath branch in October last year.

“I don’t think they knew there were ashes in it at that point but then when they took it to the other branch they discovered it,” she explained.

“By then they didn’t know who had taken it in.”

Joseph was born in 1925 and died on September 22, 2004, aged 78. They have been unable to find a full birth record so are unsure of where he was born.

Linda, whose maiden name was Kopman, was originally from South Africa and was born in 1955.

The pair married in 1994 and lived in St John’s Road in Sevenoaks together for several years in the early 2000s.

There is no record of them having any children.

Victoria is hoping to reunite Joseph’s ashes with his family or friends to find out more about him and to see what would be most fitting for a resting place.

They are currently being looked after by Welham Jones.

Joseph’s ashes cannot be scattered with Linda as the graveyard she is buried in has strict regulations on scattering or interring ashes.

If they are unable to find out any information, they will likely scatter them at the crematorium in Tunbridge Wells, in the garden of remembrance.

Victoria added: “We just can’t find anything out about him.

“I just think it would be nice to see if there is anyone who knew him or any family.”