April 2015

 
Welcome to the latest edition of the Institute Update

A very warm welcome to our newest members:
        Lynsey Mallinson, Madeleine Doherty and Carolyn Tovey.
 

Best Practice Day
Only a couple of weeks to go until the IoCF Best Practice Day on the 18th April. The day focuses on the theme 'working with families' and includes a full programme of workshops, led by both members of the IoCF Council and guest speakers. The day will be invaluable for both established celebrants and those newly-trained alike.

If you haven't already booked your place, there is still time to do so before the final date for bookings which is this Friday, 3rd April - simply complete the booking form - (found here) - and send it to Barbara.

Full details of the programme are here, and directions to the Claret Conference Centre can be downloaded here.

National Funeral Exhibition
Friday 12 June to Sunday 14 June, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire

After the Best Practice Day, the next opportunity for members to meet with other celebrants, the IoCF Council and people from all areas of the funeral industry will be at the National Funeral Exhibition. In previous years, members have found it a very informative event and a great networking opportunity so do come along if you can, to see the latest innovations in the industry.

If you are planning to attend, you need to register in advance with the organisers to obtain a car parking pass and an entry badge. To register go to: www.nationalfuneralexhibition.co.uk/registration.

Also, if you can spare an hour to help 'man' the IoCF stand, please let Barbara know which day you will be there and she will draw up a rota to be circulated in advance of the event.

Public Relations
The IoCF Council continues to work hard on your behalf to promote our 'brand' and maintain a high profile with both funeral arrangers and the public. There has been a marked increase in the number of enquiries received by our members from both funeral arrangers and the public using our website as the first point of research for a funeral celebrant.

Council tries to ensure that an article about the Institute appears regularly in the trade journals read by funeral directors and arrangers - last month we achieved two articles covering three full pages in the Funeral Directors' Monthly alone - and, to that end, we would be happy to forward any articles (however brief) to the editors on your behalf. If you would like to report on any of your experiences (without specific reference to any particular funeral or family) that would emphasise the standard of work which funeral arrangers can expect from our members, do send your article (plus your photograph /personal business details if you wish) to Barbara.

We do need to work hard to get the message out to funeral arrangers about exactly what we stand for. It would appear that even those within the profession do not always have a clear grasp of the differences between religious, humanist and civil funeral ceremonies.

Recently, more than one member has brought to my attention the wording in the brochure produced by Co-operative Funeralcare. Do look at their brochure (available in Co-operative Funeralcare funeral homes and on-line), particularly the page on 'Funerals Today'. This illustrates three types of funeral ceremonies: religious, humanist and 'contemporary'. The latter being an interesting term used to attempt to describe the ceremonies which we would be involved in. I have been in contact with a Marketing Manager at Co-operative Funeralcare and pointed out that the information contained within that paragraph is, at best, vague and, in places, inaccurate and suggested that the term 'civil funeral' is still the best understood option. I also offered some suggested wording to enhance this and, in response, have received an assurance that the Institute's suggestions will be included in their next round of literature reviews.

We can only wait and see but, as some of our members have already done, if you get an opportunity to discuss the brochure with your local Co-op Funeral Director, even if it does not instigate some action for change by them, it will be a chance for you to check their understanding of civil funerals compared with the other ceremonies which they offer to clients.

Have you looked at the information and brochures which other funeral companies give to their clients? Is the wording how we would want them to be promoting our work? The same applies to the packs offered to those who wish to pre-plan a funeral. We are aware that even those produced by the large funeral groups do not always allow the client to stipulate the type of celebrant that they would like to take their funeral service (and they certainly do not mention the possibility of pre-planning the actual ceremony script!) Council have previously attempted to get companies, such as Golden Charter, to consider re-wording this section in their next literature review and perhaps we can all work towards producing change through discussions with our local funeral directors, in the hope that they will pass the message on to their managers.

New Logo
Gold badge ... gold rose ... gold standard - our marketing theme for this year.

Our new logo including the phrase 'setting the national standard' is now available in .jpg form on the resources page in the Members' Area of the website. This can be copied for use on all your scripts, stationery, emails etc. If you have any problems downloading or resizing the logo for your own use, do please contact Barbara.

The gold badge will remain unchanged as any further detail becomes illegible but we intend that the gold rose, used in conjunction with the logo, will become a memorable and eye-catching icon associated with the gold standard of IoCF funeral ceremonies. The rose symbol has certainly brightened up and enhanced our exhibition stands and will be 'rolled out' as a replacement to the original white rose on the IoCF leaflets, business cards, script cover pages etc in due course.

Coming soon ... new IoCF merchandise (pens, ties, lapel badges etc) bearing the gold rose - watch this space!

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new members at the Best Practice Day.

Best wishes
Christine Ogden
 

 
Admin News

Office hours
Please note that the office will be closed from 2pm Thursday 2nd April until 10am Monday 13th April as Barbara will be on holiday. In case of emergencies please contact Christine Ogden on 01507 313164 or 07748 166236.
 

Script Cover Pages
A message from our Script Assessor: please remember that the final presentation transcript of the funeral ceremony given to families after the service is the 'public' document by which we are all judged and, inevitably, engaged again for future ceremonies. For that reason, it is the presentation copy that is requested for script assessment and our script assessor would also like to see the cover page which you use. We understand that the IoCF cover page, when sent digitally, will not include the white rose (soon to be a gold rose) but we would like to see the wording and layout which you use around that; so please attach that with your script.
 

Script assessment
Currently, you are asked to send two transcripts for assessment. These are requested, via Barbara, as specific ceremony numbers, with the additional note that should the script requested be one of a service which includes a tribute written wholly by the family, then the preceding or subsequent script should be submitted instead. Either way, this can result in two scripts of very similar ceremonies being submitted which may not reflect fully the diversity which we know that you bring to the services, through tailoring your script to the different circumstances. Therefore, from 1st April, you will be asked to submit one script as per the above criteria plus one other script of your choosing which allows for you to show the variations in the wording you use.
 

IoCF Stationery
To order IoCF items, contact Barbara (barbara@iocf.org.uk).

Overprinted leaflets - 12p each
Business cards - a sliding scale dependent upon quantity
Headed Paper (50 sheets) - £6
Compliment Slips (50 slips) - £6
Zipped Writing Case - £20
Presentation Folder - £10

For additional ceremony products visit www.celebrantsupplies.co.uk - a 'trade only' site for celebrants.
 

 
Website

PR and the IoCF website
Reflecting our PR effort, we will shortly be adding a new page to the IoCF website featuring all the published articles about the Institute.

Making these generally accessible will help in raising the profile of the Institute and its members. For the public who don't have access to trade journals, it will also function as a confirmation of the standards that can be expected from a ceremony conducted by an Institute member.

We would also like to include any articles that you have had published about your work - please send any articles or snippets to Barbara.

 
Database Statistics

Here are the stats for January 2015.

Total number of booking forms logged: 692

 
2015 Diary Dates

 
And Finally ...

Congratulations to the following members who have reached another milestone in their work:
        Gill Warwick, Sarah Chapman, Sally Band, Heather Peet, Faith Oxford and Beverley Meaney.
 

And thank you for reading.
Barbara