Last year’s awards ceremony in central London
It’s that time of year again – nominations open today for this year’s Good Funeral Awards, the Oscars of the death trade. Since 2012, the Good Funeral Awards have been celebrating excellence in the funeral world and have championed the pioneers, the bold and the brave, as well as the under-sung hard workers behind the scenes.
Last year there was an unprecedented number of entries, and the awards were presented at a glittering lunchtime ceremony attended by hundreds of people from across the country.
Coverage of the event in the media was overwhelmingly positive, see a piece in The Independent here and an article in The Guardian here, with national and local newspapers and radio stations all fascinated by something that journalists perceive as peculiar, but that we feel is richly deserved – recognition of outstanding work by those involved in caring for the dying, dead or bereaved.
Once again, there is an opportunity to nominate anyone who you feel deserves recognition or appreciation for their work in what is often a much misunderstood or maligned industry, or to enter yourself or the company you work for.
To enter for an award, simply go to the Good Funeral Awards website and you will find the entry form at the foot of the ‘Nominate’ page. Download it, complete it and send it in along with the entry fee* if applicable.
Every entry is carefully considered before The Long List is published in August. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in September.
To nominate a person or company, please write to the organisers at info@goodfuneralawards.co.uk and tell us why you feel they deserve to be a winner. Please ensure that you include their contact details including their e-mail address, and the category you would like to nominate them under.
All nominees will be contacted and invited to submit an official entry in the category they feel most appropriate, along with the entry fee* if applicable.
*The entry fee applicable to most categories is intended to help save the organisers from sinking under the weight of administering over 600 nominations and associated entries. If you want to nominate someone and pay the entry fee for them that’s absolutely fine, this happened quite a lot last year and nominees were both touched and very grateful.
You have plenty of time, nominations close in July. And tickets aren’t yet on sale for the awards ceremony. But you know what they say about the early bird.
This year’s categories are listed below. Aficionados of the Good Funeral Awards will notice a few new titles – we’ve tried to reflect the changes we are seeing in the world of funerals and to make sure that there’s a category for everyone.
The 2017 Category List
- Most significant contribution to the understanding of death
- Best death related public engagement event
- Most helpful funeral advice website
- Doula of the year
- Anatomical pathologist technician of the year
- Care of the deceased award
- Coffin supplier of the year
- Funeral florist of the year
- Minister of the year
- Celebrant of the year
- Gravedigger of the year
- Best burial ground in the UK
- Best crematorium in the UK
- Crematorium attendant of the year
- Best direct cremation provider
- Best low cost funeral provider
- Most eco-friendly funeral director
- Funeral arranger of the year
- Most promising new funeral director business
- Most promising trainee funeral director
- Best modern funeral director
- Best traditional funeral director
- Funeral caterer of the year
- The ‘what to do with the ashes’ award
- Lifetime achievement award
