They want my reply. What should I say?

Good morning,

I have been admiring your website and would like to enquire about the possibility of having Staysure Prepaid funeral plans listed on your website.

Staysure.co.uk established in 2004, achieved 8th position in the recently published Sunday Times Fastrack 100 list.

Staysure has teamed up with Dignity to offer the Guaranteed Funeral Plan to offer a practical and sensible way to take care of rising funeral costs and arrangements.   Because the Guaranteed Funeral Plan is provided by Dignity, the UK’s foremost provider of funeral plans, you can be sure that you will receive unrivalled service and excellent value for money. More than 750,000 people in the UK have buy cialis johor bahru already taken the decision to pre-arrange their funeral, and it is reassuring to know that 415,000 of them have chosen Dignity.

I wondered if you would be interested in joining the affiliate programme and making additional revenue.

The affiliate program is free to join and there is no monthly fee. The scheme offers a high commission of £15 per valid lead and this will be dependent on the number of sales achieved. Obviously the more sales, the higher the commission our partners will earn.

Please view our website for more details http://www.staysure.co.uk/affiliates .

I look forward to your reply.

Claire MacIntyre
Online Marketing Manager
Staysure.co.uk Ltd.

Laughing it off

I’m not supposed to be here (see previous post) but I can’t resist abandoning packing my water wings for a moment in order to give vent to what may or may not be justified crossness.

Funerals have, by many people who ought to know better, been subjected to a reductio ad absurdum: three songs and a piss-up. It’s Grief Bypass therapy, and I’ve capped those words because so many people are peddling it. It seeks to make death manageable by trivialising it — it seems to me.

Given that funerals are about people and loss — people who may have been adored, reviled or anything in between; loss that is vast — you’d think that people would have to be emotionally retarded to fall for it. Joanna Yeates’s parents didn’t. But Co-operative Funeralcare’s marketing people seem to have shown that you can never go wrong by underestimating the taste of the British public. And now the Dying Matters Coalition is joining in.

Dying Matters, funded by taxpayers’ money and charged with getting people to confront end-of-life issues, has already given birth to A Party for Kath. Now it has published a web page titled Alternative Funeral Songs. It regurgitates a survey by the Children’s Society (search me) of favourite funeral songs and lists the top ten alternatives, too boring to relate. It goes on to say:

Here at Dying Matters we have a few suggestions of our own. How about: ‘Bat Out of Hell’, Meatloaf; ‘Another One Bites the Dust’, Queen; ‘Highway to Hell’, AC/DC; ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’, Bob Dylan; ‘Reach for the Stars’, S Club 7; and ‘Dancing On Your Grave’, Motorhead.

Have you chosen an off-the-wall track for your funeral? Let Dying Matters know by emailing s.stone@ncpc.org.uk. We will, of course, retain your anonymity unless you tell us you are happy for us to use your name.

Ha ha ha. Haven’t we heard this all before?

I’ve been the celebrant at a funeral which concluded with everyone singing Burn, baby, burn. It was outrageous and very funny. But context was all, and in the circumstances it was sung in a spirit of love, grief and anger. It was as powerful as a dies irae, not played for a larf.

Humour is important. It’s (on occasion) a great channel for pain and misery. It’s deadly serious, not an escape valve for an escapist snigger-urge.

But perhaps I am being too harsh or pious or puritanical. And if I am you’ll be cross enough to tell me so. You may or may not persuade me. But I think I’ll always incline to a treatment of loss more in the spirit of this wonderful tribute to his father by Simon Usborne.

Blog off

This blog is taking a break. It needs good sea air, best bitter beer, fresh seafood, long walks and things other than death to think about. It needs regenerating.

Do come back. Posting shortly will be Kathryn Edwards on Malidoma Some and the role and importance of ritual in funerals. Kathryn has journeyed to Burkina Faso , Dr Some’s home country,  to study with him.

Also posting soon will be Simon Smith and Jane Morrell of green fuse. They have recently got back from California, where they met leading lights in the US home funeral movement. Can, will, home funerals ever take off in the UK?

See you in a week’s time!

The Good Funeral Guide
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.