April 2017

 
Welcome to the latest edition of the Institute Update
 

A very warm welcome to our newest members:

Chris Bruffell, Sharon Wood, Karen Arnold and Tamara Bibby.

IoCF Out and About
In the past month the Institute has been represented at three events: Annette Jones at the SAIF Associates lunch in Harrogate, Barbara Pearce at the Northamptonshire NAFD quarterly meeting and Karen Hopkins at the National Infant Loss Conference, and of course, we had a very successful Best Practice Day last weekend. More on those below.
 
Insurance Enhancement
I'm pleased to announce that the wording of the IoCF public liability insurance has been renegotiated and now reads:

'Members who conduct funerals by Crematoria and at other sites around the country having been recommended by Funeral Directors or simply contracted by clients directly. Their work involves visiting clients to discuss their requirement for the funeral and then conducting the service on site, including bereavement support, naming ceremonies and commitment ceremonies.'

In effect, this means that your insurance now covers you for funerals, naming and commitment ceremonies and any other linked work, such as bereavement support and other supportive work.
 
Pre-plans
A reminder that the IoCF will hold any pre-plans for you and your clients. Simply contact Barbara if you would like to use this facility.
 
National Funeral Exhibition

A reminder about the National Funeral Exhibition, Stoneleigh Park, 9th-11th June. If you are able to volunteer an hour to give the stand stalwarts a break at any time over the weekend, we'd love to hear from you - please contact Barbara.

As previously mentioned, we hope to have our own room available on the Saturday lunchtime - more on that nearer the time.
 
Conference

Don't forget - conference will be held on the weekend of 20th-22nd October at Hillscourt. More details in due course.
 
Karen Hopkins
Chairman
 

 
Admin
 

Easter Closing

The office will be closed from 5pm on Thursday 13th April until 9am Tuesday 25th April. The phone lines will be covered. In case of emergencies please contact Karen Hopkins on 07757 795364.

Usual office hours are 9-5 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Occasionally days may alter due to scheduled meetings.
 

 
National Infant Loss Conference
 

London, March 2017

I recently attended the above conference which was a very thought provoking day. The aim of the day was to cover the care required following an infant loss so that all professionals have an understanding of their role in bereavement care. It was a very full agenda with speakers from various organisations including 4 Louis (providing memory boxes and cold cots), Remember my Baby (bereavement photography), the Coroner's Office and Staff Association, The Child Funeral Charity (providing financial support to parents in need), The Lily Mae Foundation (not forgetting dad's).

The morning began with two heart rending accounts about infant loss. The first was a film from Abigail's Footprints 'The Deafening Silence'. This told the story of a bereaved couple from the moment they discovered that their baby was going to be still born to giving birth and the right and wrong ways professionals should behave in their treatment of parents at this very emotional time. The second was a very moving account from a young mother telling her own personal experience of giving birth to a baby who she knew would not survive due to a rare heart condition. She very bravely highlighted what could have been done differently to make this very distressing time a little more bearable.

It was an incredibly meaningful and moving conference and although the content of the day was directed mainly towards the medical profession rather than funeral directors and celebrants it was interesting to hear how other professionals are, and should be, working with bereaved parents. There are many organisations providing help and support to parents and as funeral celebrants we also have a role to play when asked to conduct a funeral ceremony. It is important that we too get this moment absolutely right for the parents.

Karen Hopkins
14th March 2017
 

 
Best Practice Day
 

Saturday 8th April
On a beautiful warm, sunny Summer's day, oops no, Spring day, members of the Institute of Civil Funerals met for a best practice day at GreenAcres Chiltern Burial site in Beaconsfield.

The weather was glorious and made the grounds seem so peaceful and beautiful, the perfect place to listen to Carole Henderson MD of The Grief Recovery Method UK talk about grief. Now, as funeral celebrants it might seem a bit like 'selling coals to Newcastle', is our job not immersed in grief and are we not experts at working with grieving people? However, Carole's talk was not about telling us how to do our job, rather she gave us a different angle when considering grief.

Carole explained what the definition of grief is and what the 6 Myths of Grief are, what to say and what not to say to grievers, and most importantly, why? With some good personal experiences from all to back these up.

This was followed up with 'To hug or not to hug?', with practical demonstrations of different styles of hugging!

After a delicious lunch in the sun and a networking walk through the beautiful woodland area, Karen Hopkins of the Institute led a discussion about some of the practicalities of burials and ashes strewing.

The day was informative and helpful for all, our experiences are all different and a day like this is very useful to share experiences, learn from each other and to perhaps overcome the feeling that you are 'on your own out there'.

Thanks to Barbara and Karen for organising and running the day and to all those who attended.

Sue Holden

 
Diary Dates

 
And finally ...
 

Congratulations to the following members who have reached another milestone in their work, ranging from 100 to 800 funerals (in no particular order):

Jan Doyle, Robert Hyde, Mark Gilborson, Lynn Kilbane and Karen Hopkins

 

Thank you for reading and a very happy Easter to you all.
Barbara