The GFG Blog

2017Apr

Read this and weep

Fran Hall
Apr 16
No Comments
  Grief Works is a collection of beautifully written stories of the many clients Julia Samuel has dealt with in 25 years of working with grief.  She writes about how she’s helped people to deal with the deaths of their parents, partners, siblings and children and face their own mortality.  
Categories:  Uncategorised

Changes they are a’coming

Fran Hall
Apr 05
2 comments
                                                                                                   
Categories:  Arranging a funeral, funeral directors, National Association of Funeral Directors, Regulation of the funeral industry, SAIF, The future of funerals

2017Mar

Dates for the diary of every funeral professional

Fran Hall
Mar 03
1 comment
One of the organisation that we rate very highly here at GFG Towers, The Foundation for Infant Loss Training, is holding a series of practical study days for funeral professionals in infant loss training over the coming months, and has asked us to spread the word about them. These study
Categories:  Arranging a funeral, bereavement, Children, Death education, Funerals for the unborn, infant funeral, Personalisation

2017Feb

A Serious Cause for Concern

Fran Hall
Feb 23
7 comments
It has come to our attention here at GFG Towers that some particularly bad practice is taking place on social media, compromising the integrity of funeral celebrancy as a profession. Whilst recognising that funeral celebrancy can be lonely work and there is a real need for support from colleagues, it’s
Categories:  celebrants Tags:  confidentiality, professionalism

There’s an unpleasant odour emanating from somewhere..

Fran Hall
Feb 16
11 comments
Back in 2015, we reported on this blog about the legal skirmish between funeral plan providers Safe Hands Funeral Plans and Golden Charter – see here to refresh your memory.  A paragraph from that blog post came to mind today: ‘While the lawyers order trebles all round and get ready
Categories:  Arranging a funeral, Bastards, funeral cost, funeral plans

The future’s bright, the future’s…..

Fran Hall
Feb 06
28 comments
Inside the ecoLegacy Dublin HQ Editor’s note: Since writing this article, we have been informed of some serious misgivings about the Ecolation offer, and we would advise any readers to consider the points raised by Mary in the comments below. For clarity, the Good Funeral Guide does not endorse ecolation
Categories:  alternative funerals, Attitudes to death, cremation, funeral reformers, funeral trends, green funeral

2017Jan

Infant Loss Conference London 2017

Fran Hall
Jan 31
No Comments
The tireless and indefatigable Dr. Chantal Lockey has been in touch with us at GFG Towers about the upcoming National Conference in Pregnancy and Infant Loss that she is organising, which is taking place in London in early March. If you are a professional who works with bereaved parents in
Categories:  Arranging a funeral, Children, Death education, Funerals for the unborn, perceptions of funeral directors

No one ever dies in Seattle

Fran Hall
Jan 03
4 comments
A very Happy New Year to all our readers from the GFG Team. Here’s to all things funereal being fabulous in 2017. We’ll begin the first blog post of this year with a small treat for you courtesy of our friends at West Seattle Death Café. They’ve been collecting many
Categories:  Attitudes to death, Death Cafe

2016Dec

Undertakers at war

Charles
Dec 13
5 comments
  Ivor Leverton, 1961 – Image from Leverton and Sons website The necessity to collect and decently dispose of those who fell in battle never led to  the conscription or recruitment of specialist undertakers. Undertakers wishing to serve their country in both world wars had to sign on as soldiers or
Categories:  funeral directors

Dignity in Blunderland

Charles
Dec 06
40 comments
  Posted by Charles A relatively new element of the Christmas experience is the themed winter wonderland. We’ve already had our first hilarious example of 2016 in Bakewell, Derbyshire. The Sun headline captured it neatly: WINTER BLUNDERLAND. Bakewell Winter Wonderland slammed by families as ‘pile of s***’ that is ‘so
Categories:  funeral, funeral cost, funeral directors, funeral poverty, traditional funerals