Where did it all go so terribly wrong for the Co-op?
The GFG is relentless in its criticism of Co-operative Funeralcare for two reasons above all. First, we believe that Funeralcare does not operate in accordance with the vision Rochdale Pioneers, who would be dismayed, at a time of rising funeral poverty, to see the way Funeralcare treats the poor. Instead of focussing on its core […]
Dilemma over memorialising slaughtered innocents
Posted by Richard Rawlinson I wonder how Pope Francis felt about his duty last Sunday. His predecessor, Pope Benedict, announced the canonisation of 800 unknown people just before dropping the bombshell of his resignation. By carrying out Benedict’s decree in St Peter’s Square last weekend, Francis instantly broke the record for the pontiff who has created […]
Not in front of the family
Funeral directors have strong and varying views on what families should and should not be allowed to see — in the families’ best interests of course. Some undertakers are heavier-handed than others in the way in which they express their advice. The law is perfectly clear: the dead person belongs to the family, not them. […]
Forward into the past
Most progressive initiatives in the world of death and funerals are characterised by a spirit of ‘Stop the clock, I want to go back’. Up in Tyneside, Michele Rutherford (DipFD) has just launched a retro initiative. It’s for those people who don’t want men in black macs taking away the person who has died, but […]
Dignity and impudence
I get a lot of email that goes straight into the cyberrecycling bin. This, though, possibly warrants a response. Hello Charles, How are you? I hope you don’t mind me getting in touch. My name’s Izabela and I work for a digital marketing company called Greenlight helping to spread awareness about Age UK. As you […]
Natural burial ground of the year – the finalists
Fran Hall of the Earth-lovin’, sometimes subterranean (it is headquartered in a nuclear bunker) Natural Death Centre (NDC) tells us that, to coincide with Dying Matter Awareness Week, and to raise the profile of the great work being done by Association of Natural Burial Ground (ANBG) members, the NDC is announcing the regional winners in our […]
Diabolical liberties, that’s what they’re taking
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” Matthew 23:25 It seems appropriate to wax biblical in the matter of undertakers’ mark-ups for, verily, the people do tremble with ire and their eyeballs do start from their sockets […]
What’s in a hearse?
All cats famously look the same in the dark. All hearses look the same whatever the light conditions. What a thing to say! Undertakers, we know we sometimes get up your noses and you probably think we do it for sport. Mostly we don’t. In the matter of the above outrageous statement, we assure you […]
Who never lived and so can never die
Posted by Richard Rawlinson Sherlock Holmes looks nothing like Benedict Cumberbatch, and is in fact the doppelgänger of Charles Cowling. This is, of course, subjective as the casting director of the TV series can present the great detective how he wants, just as a reader of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories can picture him as Charles’ twin bro in […]
Calling all angels
When Ed Emsley, a film student at the University of Falmouth, rang me up to talk about his idea for a documentary about the death industry, I was struck by what a very nice fellow he was. I gave him all the help I could — a mouthful of wellmeaning advice and a list of […]
