Bonus culture
If you are out celebrating this weekend, spare a toast to the lucky managers of Co-operative Funeralcare, who have just banked their annual bonuses. For those in Bands 3 and 4, that’s £2,500 — £5,000. For those in Bands 1 and 2, who are on a long-term incentive plan, that’s serious moolah. The Good Funeral […]
Your Digital Afterlife
I bought a copy of Your Digital Afterlife as soon as it came out, some weeks ago. Since then, it has been sitting on the bookshelf reproachful and unread — the next worst thing to a stack of ironing. I’ve just made a start. It’s blinking BRILLIANT. It’s an important area this. Where we once […]
Nice guys finish first
Celebrants gain all the important insights into funeral directors which are denied to clients. We get to find out what they’re really like, why they do it and whether they really care. So here’s a tip for all funeral consumers. When your celebrant has been to see you, and you’ve had that nice long chat […]
Well, it’s been a quiet week…
It really has been a very quiet week in Funeralworld. Here are the choice cuts. Peter the Wild Boy, never tamed, buried at Northchurch, Herts –http://bit.ly/gqRr3k Green Burial Council code of standards. This is brand new, yes?http://bit.ly/geljsE That eminently postponable problem: what to do with the ashes? Lovely piece here – http://bit.ly/dHYAyD […]
Post-tsunami funerals, Japan
Here’s a fascinating tsunami-aftermath story in the Los Angeles Times. It examines this predicament: how do you mark a death in tradition-bound Japan with no body to cremate? One survivor, Shoichi Nakamura, has lost her brother. The lack of a body makes it difficult to have a proper osoushiki, or funeral ceremony, Nakamura said. Instead of […]
Trad bad?
There’s a fine row brewing in Cork. The County Council has forbidden the public to dig graves themselves, something they have been doing since the dawn of time. Yes, it’s a health and safety thing. From now on graves may only be dug by those who have done the course. They must be equipped with […]
Immerse yourself in Bath
The Centre of Death and Society at the University of Bath is perhaps the UK’s leading think tank in the field of DDD (death, dying and disposal). That statement is challengeable, of course, and might be disputed by excellent thinkers in the field at York, Sheffield, Winchester and Durham. What do I know? Every year […]
Co-operative Funeralcare puts its money on alkaline hydrolysis
From The Co-operative booklet (2011) My Legacy. Ethical Strategy: Throughout the 20th century, people in the UK were limited to the choice of either burial or cremation when dealing with a loved one’s remains. Now, in the early part of the 21st century, The Co-operative Funeralcare is putting significant resources behind the development of Resomation.® […]
Bretby crem sale a done deal
Exactly why East Staffordshire Borough Council and South Derbyshire District Council, the representatives of the people of Buxton-upon-Trent, who are the owners of Bretby crematorium, should want to sell it on their behalf and without their say so, is a dark and nasty mystery. Bretby crem is profit-making, well run and highly regarded. The sale […]
Swindler recycled
Members of the Official Richard Sage Fan Club will be interested to learn that our unwearied superdork has resurfaced. Richard Who? Click on the Category at the end of this post to trigger a cascade of ordure. I can’t say exactly where he is — I must protect my source. But he is still in the UK […]
