February 2016

 
Welcome to the latest edition of the Institute Update
 

A very warm welcome to our newest members Julie Hunter and Di Lightowler.

All change for 2016

Belated greetings and good wishes for 2016. A change in the year often comes with the saying 'out with the old and in with the new' and, so far, this year is looking like it will again be a year of change in the funeral industry ... and for the IoCF.

The IoCF is on the move

The first change to announce is that the IoCF will be moving its office base at the end of this month. Along with our partner company, CCL, we shall be moving to a larger office space with excellent facilities in Burton Latimer, near Kettering in Northamptonshire. Of course, Barbara is working hard to ensure that everything goes smoothly and there is little 'disruption to service', but I know you will understand if things move a little more slowly in February and into the beginning of March.

The full postal address will be sent to you as soon as it is confirmed by Royal Mail, The vagaries of the system mean that we won't know our actual address until we have moved in and we have received a letter, from Royal Mail, stating 'this is your address'. Our office phone number will remain unchanged as 01480 861411 - the new phone system will allow us to divert calls so that there will be someone available to speak to you when Barbara is away from the office for any length of time.

New letterhead paper and complimentary slips will soon be available to purchase. (If you have recently placed an order, then it will come to you bearing the new address.)

A reminder, again, that we have a wide range of stationery, leaflets, script covers and folders for sale - see the full listing on the members' resource pages.

Important diary changes

Please note that the following events will now NOT be taking place this year: the Best Practice Days on Saturday 12th March and Saturday 25th June have now been cancelled. Likewise the IoCF annual conference scheduled for the weekend 18th-20th November this year.

Apologies if this has caused any inconvenience. Council has been planning a change in direction as to how we can best support Institute members.

Thank you to those of you who took time to complete our survey on the conference and Best Practice days, and there were some very positive comments made about the benefits of these events. However, the number of responses was extremely low, leading Council to believe that the cost in energy and money to organise these events is not the best use of your money and our time. The message we got from the survey is that many of you find that the cost and the distance needed to travel to attend are prohibitive and so the decision was made to reduce the number of 'national' events which can only be accessed by a few.

We do recognise the importance of the opportunity for our members, from all over the country, to meet up together and so there will still be a biennial conference. In non-conference years the AGM will be combined with a seminar day held in the autumn, along with a second seminar day early in the year.

New dates for your diary

Saturday 1st October 2016 - IoCF Seminar Day and AGM - the Beeches Hotel, Birmingham
9th-15th May 2017 - Dying Awareness week - Nationwide events
Friday 9th-Sunday 11th June 2017 - National Funeral Exhibition - Stoneleigh, Warwickshire
Friday 29th September - Sunday 1st October 2017 - IoCF Conference and AGM - the Beeches Hotel, Birmingham

Changes ahead

More details of the programme for the seminar day this autumn will be published soon but the theme of the day will be one that is of value to all members. There is a great diversity in the support and professional development that each member requires from the Institute, dependent on whether you work as a full-time celebrant or see the job as a retirement pastime and income booster. However, it has always been clear, at past IoCF events, that sharing good practice and being able to discuss work experiences has been invaluable to everyone attending. As our membership is now growing rapidly in number, it will become possible for much more of this to happen at a regional level.

Do contact other members in your area to find out about or organise your regional group. Many areas already hold very successful get-togethers and the council will be looking at ways that our seminar days can be repeated at other venues around the country, or further training or just a more focussed activity can take place at your local meeting with our support.

An example of how a regional group may promote themselves to the public can be found through the Dying Matters website (www.dyingmatters.org). Their theme for Dying Matters Awareness Week this year is 'The Big Conversation' and resources (including a presentation) can be downloaded to enable you to hold a local event.

Quite a number of members have indicated that they would prefer to fulfil their CPD requirements individually and we hope to meet that requirement with the development of distance learning and webcasts which can be accessed as appropriate. This is something which is very much in development and, as ever, it cannot come entirely from the council members alone - we will very much welcome offers of learning packages or resources from any member who has materials and expertise that would be valuable to our profession. Please contact me or any council member if you feel you can offer your support in this.

IoCF website

The website 'Find a celebrant' map and members' listing pages have now been updated. A visitor to the page still clicks on the map for a region but on that area page members are now listed under individual counties; making it easier to identify a local celebrant.

Please check your listing - you may already be, or may wish to be, listed under more than one county - and let Barbara know if you wish to update the counties in which you work or edit your contact details.

In the ever changing on-line world, council are aware that the IoCF website is also due for an update and so, once established in our new office, we will be making a new look website a priority.

Newsletter

Newsletters are not immune to changes in the on-line world either, and, in keeping with the latest recommendations, this newsletter now has a "responsive design" which means it will be legible whether viewed on a desktop, tablet or smart phone.

Facebook

Our three month pilot trial of an IoCF Facebook group is now complete and ready to 'go live'. You will shortly be receiving an email with instructions about how to join and use the group - it will be an 'idiot's guide' for those who are not familiar with Facebook! We hope that you will all join the group, even if only to read the posted messages and make use of the resources uploaded by other members and, hopefully, feel comfortable about adding a post yourself.

It is intended that this group page will replace the Forum which will be discontinued once all members have had a chance to join us on Facebook. The purpose of it is the same: i.e. to ask advice, share poems and resources, or simply chat with other members but it will be much more user-friendly and past resources and posts will be much easier to search and find again at a later date.

It is a private and secret group page, accessed and read by IoCF members only, and it is expected that members will use it responsibly and professionally i.e. any references to a funeral service should not contain anything which would make the family, funeral director or crematorium identifiable. On that note, may I remind everyone that any posting on a social media site which shows your link with the Institute should not be such that, in any way, it can be seen to damage the reputation of the IoCF or bring its members into disrepute.

 

So, to quote David Bowie, 'Ch...ch...ch...changes....' will happen in the funeral profession; hopefully, all for the good, and the IoCF council will be working hard on positive changes to offer the best support possible to every member.

Best wishes
Christine Ogden

 
Merchandise
 

Those of you who did attend conference were lucky enough to get an early opportunity to purchase some of the new IoCF merchandise including lapel pins and window stickers. These are now available from Barbara.

Please see the Stationery order form for full details.

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

 
Training Update
 

Civil Ceremonies Ltd Advanced Practice Training - Level 4

Details of all courses can be found at:
www.civilceremonies.co.uk/training/funeral-celebrancy-training/dates-and-fees-for-funeral-courses

IoCF members receive a 10% discount on course fees.

Level 4 course:
You do not HAVE to take the full qualification for the Level 4 courses; you can just attend the one day course and receive all the coaching, resources and information.

If you take the qualification, you will be required to complete distance learning after the one day session an d submit for assessment. The work is at Level 4 standard ad you will receive full certification for each separate course from the awarding body.

If you achieve 3 of the 4, Level 4 qualifications, Civil Ceremonies will award you with an Advanced Practice Diploma in recognition of your achievement.

Level 4 Course
Level 4 Advanced Practice Voice and Delivery Skills - 13th April 2016
Level 4 Advanced Practice Tribute Writing Techniques - 3rd May 2016
Level 4 Advanced Practice Bereavement Interviews - 4th May 2016
Level 4 Advanced Practice Child and Baby Funerals - 12th April 2016

Fees for the above course are £220.50 + VAT - full qualification or £121.50 + VAT - one day.

These courses are all externally accredited. Fees include OCN or NOCN assessment, registration and certification. Fees include: Registration and certificates, assessment, refreshments, lunch and full course materials. Accommodation is available at very reasonable cost at the Claret Centre, if required.

 
Database Statistics
 

The database statistics for December 2015 are as follows:

Total number of booking forms logged: 609

 
And finally ...
 

Congratulations to the following members who have reached another milestone in their work, ranging from 1700 to 50 funerals (in no particular order):

Jo Donlevy, Patsy Gamble, Jan Doyle, Rosemary Drewery, Chris Mills, Kevin Bending, Chris Howe, Padraic Cawley, Gill Warwick, Sarah Willis and Judith Talbot.