Modern Funeral Director of the Year
Fran Glover & Carrie Weekes of A Natural Undertaking Carrie and Fran run a funeral business in Birmingham where they have enjoyed rapid success by facilitating highly personalized, non-traditional funerals. Carrie Weekes and Fran Glover launched their business in Birmingham in 2014 because they felt that current funeral and commemorative practices in Birmingham, where funerals […]
Low Cost Funeral Director of the Year
Lucy Coulbert of Coulbert Family Funerals Having geared her business specifically to help families of limited means arrange dignified and respectful funerals, Lucy was the only funeral director in England and Wales to give evidence to the 2016 DWP Bereavement Benefits Enquiry. Lucy gives a 100% customer-focused service, unconstrained by the traditions of funeral service. […]
Wise words
Ru’s opening words to the assembled guests struck a chord with many who were there, so we thought we’d put them on the blog for the whole world to read. Over to you Rupert. “Welcome everyone to the Good Funeral Awards 2016! It started off, as so many good things do, in a sweaty basement […]
Why Funeralbooker are backing the Good Funeral Awards
Guest post by Ian Strang and James Dunn, Directors of Funeralbooker ‘Dear all, For those of you who haven’t come across Funeralbooker before, we are a website which helps connect people with the best funeral director for them. When we decided to set up Funeralbooker and were researching the market, it was evident that the […]
Nice work if you can get it
Here’s an attractive sounding job spec for someone considering a career as a funeral director: It’s providing the service that leaves a lasting impression. It’s being encouraged to gain new skills. And it’s delivering extraordinary service… Joining our talented team, you’ll provide a … service to an exceptional standard, both front-of-house and behind-the-scenes. You’ll prepare for […]
Why do funeral workers creep people out?
Everyone in the death business knows what normal people think of them. They are reminded of it every time they’re asked what they do for a living. I often lie. Perhaps you do, too, sometimes. A freshly published academic study titled On The Nature Of Creepiness offers us, perhaps, some insights into this unflattering characteristic commonly ascribed to deathworkers […]
Not a Good Urner?
Guest post by Tim Morris The House of Commons Work & Pensions Committee report published on 31st March contained evidence that a funeral director had refused to hand over the ashes of a deceased person to the family concerned until the funeral account had been settled. It should be noted that the ashes of a […]
Stick to what you know
Guest post by Vita Incerta Was I alone in reading The Times journalist, Janice Turner’s piece about the funeral of her Godmother? In a rip roaring and impassioned annihilation, she tore apart the ‘crass, vain, sloppy buffoon’ who led her Godmother’s service. This wasn’t some half baked celebrant, nor a clueless member of the clergy. It […]
Empathy and sympathy – what’s the difference?
Posted by John Porter Sometimes the boundaries of the definitions of these two words, empathy and sympathy, become fuzzy. They become fuzzy for good reasons. This is from Confessions of a Funeral Director, which is often mentioned in GFG posts, entitled 10 Marks of a good funeral director: 8. Empathy and sympathy. Imagine being at the […]
What is an undertaker for, really?
“Most people in the funeral industry are servants by nature, but it’s time that we took that servant nature and put it to better use by aiding you in the process of caring for your dead. Instead of doing it ourselves, we now need to be teachers, and not just directors; we need to be […]
