The GFG Blog
2016Mar
Death with Dignity plc
Charles
Mar
02
11 comments
Dignity has just published its results for the 52 week period ending 25 December 2015. You can study them here. Headline figures for readers of this blog are: Profit per funeral: £1045 – a margin of almost 42%. This was in spite of the fact that: “Approximately 24 per cent
Over to you!
Charles
Mar
02
No Comments
We recently wrote to BBC R4’s Last Word programme suggesting they include more ordinary people – local heroes, we called them – here. We said: “The stories of those of our fellow-citizens who have lived and struggled and won some and lost some are moving and inspiring. All priests
2016Feb
Something old, something news
Charles
Feb
29
No Comments
In Wales a car crashed into a funeral procession killing the horse that was pulling the hearse – http://bit.ly/1QHl2Av The CDAS newsletter is out, full of good things. If you’re not already a subscriber, sign up – http://bit.ly/1LO2aZf Dead women are being dug up in China to be corpse brides for dead
No place like home? Really?
Charles
Feb
27
2 comments
Seventy per cent of us want to die at home. This rounded figure was obtained using a methodology which funeral industry practitioners may find strikingly odd: namely, by asking people what they want. It is therefore an informative statistic. If you’re one of the thirty per cent who are happy to
Goings on in the death zone
Charles
Feb
21
2 comments
Some of the stories in the news last week. The Daily Telegraph took consumer journalism to an all-time low here A peek inside Melbourne’s oldest funeral home here Find out about the excellent Free Funeral Services Society in Burma here. Moving video here. Residents of Lagos were inconvenienced by a corpse
What they think of you
Charles
Feb
18
1 comment
Hat tip to the Fisher King (I’m in pieces, bits and pieces) Since you left me and you said goodbye (I’m in pieces, bits and pieces) All I do is sit and cry (I’m in pieces, bits and pieces) You went away and left me misery (I’m in pieces, bits
Wag goodbye to his lordship
Charles
Feb
17
5 comments
Lord Avebury, the Liberal Democrat peer who died on Valentine’s day was noted for the eccentricity of some of his views. He was a conventional supporter of assisted suicide but his expressed preferences for his disposal raised eyebrows. He was the only person to have his body rejected by Battersea
Let’s hear it for our local heroes
Charles
Feb
16
3 comments
Friday’s Times had an article about Matthew Bannister of BBC R4’s obits programme Last Word (Fridays at 4.00 pm). You listen to it? Of course you do. Who doesn’t? Here’s what the article said: When Bannister, who had been a high-profile radio presenter and media executive for many years, was
Some of the stories you missed
Charles
Feb
14
3 comments
Here are some the news stories you may have inadvertently missed in the last week. In India, a man killed his girlfriend three days before his wedding (to someone else). Such was the stench of her decomposing body, he used 70 cans of perfume to disguise the smell. He was
Funeralcare mouldy corridor scandal
Charles
Feb
12
1 comment
Update from the National Association of Funeral Directors: You may be aware of the media coverage this morning relating to Midcounties Cooperative. In line with our commitment to uphold standards within the profession we have been working closely with Midcounties Cooperative today and sent a team of
