Good Funeral Awards opening address
The Good Funeral Awards opening ceremony comprised a cavalcade of alternative hearses, a flower arranging contest, a dove release and a performance by the green fuse choir. It culminated in this address by funeral celebrant Belinda Forbes. You had to be there, of course, to get the full 120% because Belinda’s delivery is very compelling. […]
Good Funeral Award 2012 winners
Posted by Charles Good Funeral Award 2012 Winners Most Promising New Funeral Director Bryan and Catherine Powell Poppy Mardall Embalmer of the Year Mark Elliott Julie-Anne Lowe The Eternal Slumber Award for Coffin Supplier of the Year Greenfield Creations Crazy Coffins Ecoffins Most Significant Contribution to the Understanding of Death in the Media (TV, […]
Thoughts of a funeral-goer
Posted by Lyra Mollington I was fascinated to read about the Good Funeral Guide Awards ceremony. What a wonderful idea! To all the finalists: well done and my very best wishes. And if you win one of the awards, try not to look too elated or smug: just a serene acceptance that your brilliance has at […]
Something for the weekend
Posted by Vale I was at a service a little while ago that included this lovely tribute from a wife to a husband: To My Dear Loving Husband – Anne Bradstreet If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were lov’d by wife, then thee. If ever wife was happy in a […]
Quotes of the day
Posted by Vale The book of the week on Radio 4 this week has been the Winter Journal by Paul Auster. I was struck by two quotes from Joseph Joubert included in today’s excerpt. Joubert, who was living in the early 1800s, published nothing in his lifetime but a book of Pensees was culled from […]
When in doubt
Posted by Richard Rawlinson Doubt: a short, meaning-packed, medieval, Anglo-French word (origin douter) which I doubt many foreigners could pronounce if only seen in written form. Adapted as a verb, noun, adjective and adverb (to doubt, a doubt/doubter, doubtable, doubtably) it, of course, means to be uncertain, consider questionable, hesitate to believe. None of us being […]
The Grim Biker’s on the telly
When I was asked if I would permit a crew to film a real biker’s funeral, complete with real mourners I was very cautious and indeed dubious to say the least. Funerals are not there to serve as PR opportunities so I was not keen at all, but while I was with the BBC a […]
A neglected grave
Posted by Richard Rawlinson To Clergy House for a council meeting of the Friends of Westminster Cathedral. It’s the council’s job to organise fundraising events from concerts to barbecues for the upkeep of said cathedral, and to plan the best ways to spend the money raised. There are separate charitable initiatives that support the London homeless […]
Don’t miss Gail’s 30 Day Challenge
I can’t keep up these days, dammit. To my great grief I missed the start of one of the great events of the year, Gail Rubin’s annual 30 Day Challenge. She attends 30 funerals in 30 days, and each day writes each one up in great detail in a values-neutral narrative. Goodness knows where she’s […]
Whither consecrated woodland burial sites?
Posted by Richard Rawlinson Back in 2001, The Telegraph ran a story about the Church of England opening its first woodland burial site, Arbory Trust, a consecrated 40-acre plot in Cambridgeshire with trees and flowers replacing gravestones. ‘Other sites cater for pagans and ‘New Age’ followers and do not offer a Christian burial,’ claimed the newspaper […]
