Reports have reached us that the infamous fraudster Richard Sage also known as Mark Kerby is due for release on 12 January 2017. His stated intention, we learn, is to return to the Southend-on-Sea area. We have not been able to verify these reports, but our source is trusted. If you don’t know who Richard Sage is, click his name in Categories below.
Hot on the heels of the unprecedented British medal success at the Rio Olympics, we think we have found a way of keeping the golden feel-good feeling going.
Over the last fortnight, like the rest of the nation, at GFG Towers we have felt the camaraderie of sharing the joy of the British athletes as they reaped the rewards of years of hard work and dedication.
The morning after the closing ceremony, with no more ecstatic TV coverage of medal ceremonies, we bring you an opportunity to feel again that warm glow of belonging.
We are delighted to announce the arrival of The Good Funeral Guild.
Let’s get connected!
Fridges & Funeral Horses
“Come see my Daddy’s shop,” exclaimed Aoife, aged five and dressed in the loveliest summer dress, as she pulled her little friends through the front door and headed straight for the embalming room.
It was Access All Areas today for the launch of Don O’Dwyer’s lovely new funeral home in Acton, West London. We had accredited O’Dwyer Funeral Directors as one of only six funeral directors in London with the official GFG seal of approval before he’d even officially launched.
“There’s absolutely nothing to hide here,” Don told me, as curious members of the community had a look around his new funeral premises, taking a peek inside the (brand new and empty!) fridge as they enjoyed coffee, cake and champagne and chatted to Don’s family.
The ever lovely funeral horses put in an appearance, as did local MP Rupa Huq, who was shocked to discover that the UK funeral industry is entirely unregulated, but was pleased to hear that the Good Funeral Guide is hard at work telling the public about the the good guys like Don. One of the two Chapels of Rest was blessed by the local Catholic priest, and celebrant and funeral director Rob from Crumpton Rudd funerals conducted a mini service, funeral style, to celebrate.
In other news…
There hasn’t been much, if any, good news from the world of crematoria recently. Back in July, we exposed the appalling state of West London Crematorium. We’re still awaiting comment from the General Cemetery Company, who have yet to get out the hoover and clean up the mess, according to our well-placed sources.
We’ve also had a run-in with a crematorium who refused to allow mourners their choice of music during an early morning contract funeral. ‘Crem choice’ seems to mean no choice in a certain borough just west of London.
So it’s been refreshing to see a spirit of friendliness, openness and transparency being embraced at Mortlake Crematorium. It’s undergoing a spring clean and a lick of paint in preparation for taking part in Open House London in September. Superintendent Natasha Bradshaw promises it will be Access All Areas for members of the public to not only enjoy the 1930s art deco building, but also to see what happens behind that mysterious curtain.
It’s wonderful to see the good guys of the funeral industry like O Dwyer’s Don and Mortlake’s Superintendent Natasha Bradshaw embracing openness and transparency and welcoming the often sceptical public through their doors.
There’s nothing to hide, after all.
Guest post by Ian Strang and James Dunn, Directors of Funeralbooker
‘Dear all,
For those of you who haven’t come across Funeralbooker before, we are a website which helps connect people with the best funeral director for them.
When we decided to set up Funeralbooker and were researching the market, it was evident that the Good Funeral Guide provided the leading independent voice in the funeral community. We had spent countless hours scouring its blog for valuable insights into this new world – and so one of the first meetings we looked to set up was with its founder, Charles Cowling.
Heading down on the train to Weymouth, we felt slight trepidation over what type of character this Mr Cowling might be – perhaps a firebrand activist or maybe a dour auditor? Therefore, we were delighted to discover an incredibly amiable and engaging Charles, who escorted us to a local pub where we spent a very pleasant few hours in the sunshine discussing the industry. Tough market research indeed!
Since that time, we have continued to value Charles’s thoughts and input and have further strengthened our relationship with the GFG since the appointments of both Fran Hall and Louise De Winter.
In particular, we view several elements of the GFG’s ethos as mirroring ours:
We allow consumers to quickly and easily understand who the best funeral director is for them – using clear pricing entered by funeral directors themselves and reviews from actual customers who have used the platform.
For the funeral director, we provide a way to easily reach a whole new set of customers that they might not usually be able to serve. Before we launched, people who searched online would typically end up with the larger chain companies, and we can compete against that, increasing visibility for the smaller, independent funeral directors.
Last year, as wide-eyed newcomers, we attended the Ideal Death Show and Good Funeral Awards at the very last minute with only a hastily designed banner and some preliminary designs of what our website might look like when we had finished building it.
A year on and we return as proud sponsor of this event, with almost 500 funeral directors signed up with us and our website helping people connect with these great independents every day. These awards provide a fantastic way to celebrate all that is great within the funeral industry and sponsoring them is a very proud moment for us.’
To find out more about Funeralbooker visit their website here: funeralbooker.com/
Finally, we can reveal the successful contenders who have made The Long List for the 2016 Good Funeral Awards
This year we have received more nominations than ever before, and with 24 categories, there are over 170 individuals or companies who will be considered for a chance to win one of the most covetable accolades in Funeralworld.
We don’t envy the judges their task this time around; the standard of entries is extraordinarily high, and the supporting testimonials that have been pouring in are heartfelt and often deeply grateful – many hundreds of people have taken the time to write in to tell us about the kindness, the skill or the care they received from their nominee when they were bereaved, and how much this meant to them.
Every letter or e-mail received in support of those named on the Long List will be handed over next week for the final decision making by the Good Funeral Awards judges, those eminences whose identities remain a closely guarded secret.
Their final choices of the winning entrants will be revealed at the glittering lunchtime Awards Ceremony on September 8th, which is being hosted by comedian and author Shappi Khorsandi at London’s grand Porchester Hall – an event made possible by the generosity of our main sponsor Funeralbooker, a donation from our good friends at Greenfield Creations and the support of our individual category sponsors (shown below).
Everyone is welcome to come along, whether or not you were nominated, or are on the 2016 Long List. The Good Funeral Awards are a day to celebrate the changing world of funerals and the wonderful people that inhabit it. And this year it’s going to be a very stylish occasion. Wear your best frocks. There will be cameras and journalists a-plenty; a London awards ceremony for the funeral industry is intriguing the media!
If you haven’t already booked your place at the best party in town, click here to order your ticket for the Awards Lunch, or e-mail us for an invoice.
And if you have made it to the 2016 Good Funeral Awards Long List, congratulations. Really, really well done. You should be immensely proud to see your name below.
Revd. Canon Gill Behenna (Chaplain among Deaf people in the Diocese of Bristol)
Revd. Kate Bottley (Vicar of the churches of Blyth, Scrooby and Ranskill and Chaplain to North Notts College)
Revd. Richard Mitchell (formerly of the Parish Church of St. Paul, Shurdington, now Canon Precentor at Gloucester Cathedral)
Revd. Melanie Toogood (Former Vicar of St. George & All Saints, Tufnell Park)
John Banks
Diana Gould
Angela (Basira) Ward
Andy Holder
Ivor Davies (Caerphilly County Borough Council)
Martin House (Eden Valley Woodland Burial Ground)
Will Pearce
D. T. H. Burial & Churchyard Service
Eden Valley Woodland Burial Ground
Greenacres Woodland Burials Chiltern
Gardens of Peace Muslim Cemetery
Thornhill Crematorium, Cardiff
Tamworth Co-operative Funeral Service
Harrison Funeral Home Electric Vehicle
Tamworth Co-operative Funeral Service
The Natural Death Centre Charity
The Cardozo Kindersley Workshop
Express-Burials & Express Cremations
Wallace Stuart Funeral Directors
Angela Bailey at Harrison Funeral Home
Emma Fisher at Colin Fisher Funeral Directors
Sarah Lee of Holmes & Family Funeral Directors
Sarah Wolsey at Daniel Ross Funerals Ltd.
Chloe Middleton (Rosedale Funeral Home)
C. S. Boswell Independent Family Funeral Services
Final Journey Funeral Directors
Youngs Independent Funeral Services
Respect Direct Funeral Services
Tamworth Co-operative Funeral Service
The Individual Funeral Company
Town & Country Funeral Directors
Wallace Stuart Funeral Directors
David Crayton of John Lucas Funerals
Suzan Davies of Abbey Funeral Services
Oliver Holmes of Holmes & Family Funeral Directors
Tamworth Co-operative Funeral Service
The Individual Funeral Company
Wallace Stuart Funeral Directors
Wayne Day at T. E. W. Hickson Ltd.
Lara-Rose Iredale at Guys & St. Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
Louise Milligan at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
Hannah Nutbeem at Heart & Soul Funeral Directors
The team at The John Radcliffe Hospital
Steve Biggs at Mortlake Crematorium
Roy Paget at Solihull Bereavement Services
Gary Paterson at Breakspear Crematorium
Paul Rayner at Solihull Bereavement Services
Carolyne Reeve at Teesside Crematorium
The entire team at Golders Green Crematorium
The entire team at Redditch Crematorium
Nicholas Albery (posthumously)
Fresh out of the box and ready for reading, here’s the e-book that is essential for the library of anyone with an interest in anything funereal.
Or actually anyone with an interest in life.
Enough said.
Published today.
Buy it here.
