We don’t do crowdfunding for funerals in this country. It would be a great way of helping people who can’t afford one. In the US there seems to be a much stronger tradition of appealing to the wider community.
Hence the website above, GoFundMe.
On it is the appeal pictured above by a British couple wanting to raise a headstone for their little boy, Daniel. They’re asking for £700 and they’ve got to £650. You might like to help them over the line.
Our GFG techie genius, who also comes up with our best ideas (he is often called the brains of the GFG), likes this so much that he wants to create his own charitable website dedicated to people living in the UK. We’re right behind him. Britain is, after all, one of the most charitable nations on Earth. What better cause?
Find GoFundMe here.
A sign of the times? I recall aged 17 or so (35 years ago) going into a cafe in the USA and seeing a jar on the counter – an appeal for funeral costs. The note attached identified the local in desperate need of a decent send-off and encouraged diners to chip-in to pay for it. It really surprised me that in such an affluent nation, this was necessary.
How little I knew. What I learned since is that Britain cannot afford the welfare system as it is. I am glad it’s not me making the decisions about what is cut because frankly I couldn’t do it.
It’s becoming a reality, crowdfunding funerals in the UK is about to get a whole lot easier. http://www.crowdfundingfunerals.com