Mother of all swear words
Posted by Wendy Coulton Recently I had a dilemma in that a funeral I was planning and conducting was for someone who was known among their close friends for using the expletive C*** (C U Next Tuesday) with affection and as a genuine term of endearment. I winced when I heard this because it is the […]
A day of reckoning for our crematoria?
The Bonomy report is published today in Scotland. Its 64 recommendations will address cremation practice in that country and, by extension, throughout Britain. They will impact the NHS, funeral directors and cremation authorities, especially the ICCM and the FBCA. Shockwaves are expected. Lord Bonomy’s brief was to “examine the policies, practice and legislation related to […]
It’s all aboard for the Ideal Death Show
First off, we think we’ve got the name right at last. The Ideal Death Show. It’s sufficiently edgy to be eyecatching without outraging some of our supporters. We’ve got the right location. Brum. Big city. Easy for you to get to. We’ve got brilliant community contacts to advertise the event locally. The show runs from […]
“It’ll save you the bother when I’m dead.”
Jeremy Clarkson, writing in the Sunday Times about the death of his Mum: Right in the middle of all that brouhaha about sloping bridges and Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe, my mum died. So there I was, in Russia, in the middle of a Top Gear tour, trying to organise her funeral and tell the children […]
And the winner is…
Does it get any better? The First Women Awards is the UK’s premium awards programme focused on senior-level business women and professionals. The Awards are founded by Real Business and the CBI, and are held in association with Lloyds Banking Group. And this year’s winner, announced last night: Poppy Mardall. Here at the GFG-Batesville Shard the inmates are breaking out the bunting and […]
Nominate someone for a Good Funeral Award now!
The Good Funeral Awards move this year to Bournville, Birmingham. The date: 6 September 2014. Nominations are open. In just three years our little acorn has grown into a flourishing oak. To many funeral directors the Good Funeral Awards might once have looked like an impertinence. Who on earth were we, a bunch of industry […]
Imagine this: when someone dies we don’t hand them over to strangers
When the GFG, in conjunction with the Plunkett Foundation, announced a community funerals initiative back in 2012, we supposed that someone might pick it up and run with it. The Plunkett Foundation, far cleverer than us, was pretty confident they would. They contacted all their community shops and community pubs and we waited with bated breath […]
The only way is ethics
In the Guardian, Niall Booker, head of the Co-op bank, writes: We got ourselves into a mess … That’s why this week we will be asking our customers for their views on our ethical policy and wider values. Refreshing our existing ethical framework and also asking about three new areas – responsible banking, transparency and […]
A promise made is a debt unpaid
The devaluation of the Social Fund Funeral Payment is the main cause of funeral poverty, but there are others. Some families sign up to more than they can afford – and funeral directors let them. The impact on both parties can be devastating. While the great and the good convene conferences to debate solutions, a […]
Should old acquaintance be forgot
There was a time, way back when the world was new and green (remember green?) and a joyous revolution in funerals was imminent. It was a time when scarcely a day passed without the launch of a new online memorial website. The concept ticked all the boxes, floated all the boats, captured the zeitgeist: innovation + […]
