December 2014

 
Welcome to the latest edition of the Institute Update

A very warm welcome to our newest members:
        Gemma Sayer, Serge Nicholson and Jan Doyle.
 

Season's Greetings from the Council of Management

The 'new' council met in December to make plans for the Institute for the coming year. Retiring council members had been thanked at the conference for their hard work and contribution to the IoCF management but, at this meeting, council voted to acknowledge the work of Viv O'Neill in making the past three conferences such huge successes by according her the status of Fellow of the Institute - an award bestowed on past retiring officers of the IoCF.

It was with sadness that I had to accept the temporary resignation of Jeff Baker from the council for personal family reasons. Hopefully this will only be for a sabbatical period until better times for Jeff. We send him our best wishes.

Christine Rose and Jonathan Chapman were welcomed onto the council - you can learn a little more about them below - and Christine Ogden, Janice Thomson and Karen Hopkins were re-elected to the offices of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

As was stressed at our conference and AGM, the focus for the council for 2015 will be raising the awareness of funeral arrangers about the high standards and quality of funeral ceremonies delivered by our members and, to that end, our first task is to re-brand the IoCF with a new logo, stationery and resources following up from the high profile anniversary celebrations of 2014. Look out for further news of this very soon in the New Year.

Plans are also well under way for our next conference and AGM (please note the change of date for this - see below) and further Best Practice Days. The first one in 2015 will be held on Saturday April 18th and once it again it will take place at the Claret Centre in Buckden. However, being aware of the distance involved for some members to attend, the council would very much like to 'roll this out' to other regions. If you know of a suitable venue in your area where we could 'repeat' this day for those members within travelling distance of that location please do let me or Barbara know. Would you be more willing to come to a Best Practice Day held in the southwest or in the north of the country? Please indicate your interest to any council member or Barbara ... or why not post your thoughts on this on the forum so that other members can 'discuss' the possibilities of a venue and content for workshops etc. at these events?

Over the past year, and at our last conference, several members expressed a wish for council to carry out surveys. One suggestion was that we should do some market research with funeral directors and that we shall be doing; directly where possible but also as an activity during the weekend of the National Funeral Exhibition (12th-14th June). If you have any questions that you would like including which you think would generate useful information from funeral arrangers please forward these to me (kemperpot@aol.com or via Barbara). There was also a suggestion that a survey of members would be useful to help the council know how best to support them. We are happy to carry out this survey but we need to know what you would like to find out from other members so, again, please forward any survey questions or topics to me, as above.

Those of you who were at conference will know that Julie Dunk (Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Managers) is carrying out her own survey into the good, the bad and the ugly of crematoria procedures and facilities. She would like to collect anecdotal evidence from our membership, so if you have anything remarkable, positive and negative, to report about the crematoria you have worked in please send this to Julie at julied.iccm@yahoo.co.uk. All information supplied will be kept anonymous, of course.

On the subject of crematoria, the annual assessments of IoCF members can now also be undertaken by a funeral director, if required - often they are the ones who actually observe the service. Future assessment packs have been amended to this effect. If you were not at conference to receive your assessment pack then you should have, or will very soon, receive it by post. Completion of the annual assessment is a requirement of membership and these should be passed on to an assessor to complete and return to the IoCF office before the end of July 2015. The assessment feedback is given in confidence and so not sent on to the member, although the Institute will follow-up any points of concern arising from the comments made.

And finally, a reminder that the Child Funeral Charity is the Institute's charity of the year so do let Anne Barber know if you would be prepared to offer your services as a celebrant for free, if she is supporting a family in your area. If any of you are undertaking a fund raising activity and would like to donate the proceeds to the charity they will be very grateful - or if you can suggest a way in which every member could support them, do let us know. For more information click on the link to the CFC on the IoCF website homepage.

Plenty to look forward to in the coming year and so, on behalf of the Council of Management, a very happy Christmas to all members and may 2015 be a great year for everyone associated with the Institute.

Best wishes
Christine Ogden
 

 
Meet your new Council members

Christine Rose

I trained to become a Civil Celebrant at the beginning of 2014. Previously I had been working in the NHS as a business development and project manager. My last four years have been as a consultant interim manager working mainly with the NHS. I have developed some important policies within the NHS to further better treatment for patients. These included care pathways for various medical disciplines i.e. orthopaedics, ENT, gynaecology, dermatology etc. One of the most important pathways I developed was for 'end of life' care.

I have also worked alongside my husband in the funeral industry for the last fourteen years supplying funeral stationery (ie orders of service sheets). This has given me a unique insight into the funeral industry from a supplier's perspective so I have experience in dealing with top management and also funeral arrangers. I am passionate about getting the 'very last thing' a family can do for their loved ones right. I enjoy meeting different people from different walks of life. Being a Civil Celebrant is more than a job for me.

I live in Cambridge and have four children who are now adults. Getting the balance right between work and family life is important to me, hence, working as a Civil Celebrant is an ideal job for me.
 

Jonathan Chapman

I have been a health professional for over 30 years, and during that time I have had to deal with many patients of all ages, and sometimes their partners and wives too. This has meant that I have also had to look after many of them at their time of loss.

Nearly 20 years ago, my father had a non religious funeral. I found it inspiring and uplifting. It was perfect in every way, and it definitely matched his attitude to the mysteries of the unknown.

I then wanted to become a celebrant, but felt I was too young. With the popularity of civil funerals increasing in recent years, two years ago I decided it was time for me to get involved.

I am grateful to my colleagues for putting their trust in me, and voting for me to join the council of the IOCF.

 
Admin News

Christmas Office Hours
The office will be closed from 2pm on Tuesday 23rd December, reopening 10am on Monday 5th January. In case of emergencies please contact Christine Ogden on 01507 313164 or 07748 166236.
 

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.
 

Conference News

The 2015 Annual Conference will now take place on the weekend of 13-15 November 2015, and not 6-8th as previously announced.
 

Database Statistics

Here are the stats for July 2014.

Total number of booking forms logged: 626

 
2015 Diary Dates

 
And Finally ...

Congratulations to the following members who have reached another milestone in their work: Margaret George, Lindis Pattison-Tadman, Jenny Gibbs, Lawrence Jacobs and Lynn Banham.