May 2015

 
Welcome to the latest edition of the Institute Update

A very warm welcome to our newest members:
        Mandy Helsby, Jane Jackson and David Carson.
 

 
Best Practice Day - A Report

The Institute of Civil Funerals aims to hold Best Practice days for its members at least twice a year. This year, however, because of the National Funeral exhibition, the decision was made to hold just one - on Saturday 18th April.

The IoCF uses Best Practice days to support members in their continued professional development - essential for us to maintain our competency and develop new skills, ensuring we are effective and successful throughout our chosen career. The format offers ongoing learning in two ways: workshops which enable us to learn and develop new techniques and skills; and a networking opportunity which allows us to build on our current knowledge, in both theory and practice, through debate and discussion, so that we, as celebrants, can create a better professional service to families.

Council ensures the funeral industry is made aware of the Best Practice days to reinforce the message that members of the IoCF are continually developing their skills.

Twenty-two members attended the day in April which was themed 'Improving Professional Service to Families'.

The first workshop, 'Onwards and Upwards', comprised two sessions. For the first we split into two groups and opened with some questions about how we could improve our service to families. Questions such as: how to step away from a script and develop your own style; awkward questions from families; issues of trust; gaining confidence and many more thought provoking questions This was a very animated session where discussion of ideas and practical experience were exchanged, as were different points of view.

The second session, 'Current Trends in Ceremonies', had an IT and audio focus. Jonathan Chapman and Andrew Hamel-Cook brought along their experience and the 'audio kits' they use, mainly for burials. This session proved to be very interesting as both Jonathan and Andrew worked their way through explaining the audio gadgets they have used at burial sites in all weathers and why they use them. Members were able to ask questions and learn how and where to use the systems, what is current in the market place, prices and where to buy. It was very hard to break for coffee and indeed I don't think Jonathan and Andrew had a coffee break as members were still asking questions and looking at their kit!!

After coffee we had a presentation from Mark Turner of the Road Victims Trust. The Trust works mainly in East Anglia, but is hoping to spread towards London and eventually nationally. Mark was very informative about how the Trust began and its ethos and aspirations. He spoke about the grief a family has when their loved ones are victims of a road accident. This led onto the question of the stress we, as celebrants, also suffer after seeing a family with this kind of grief, especially if they have lost someone who is very young. The question of who we speak to when we are affected by this kind of grief - or at any time when we feel that we cannot manage the impact our job has on us as we are single practitioners - was raised. Mark explained that the Trust has trained councillors for their teams to speak to, at least every two weeks. The IoCF gave a donation of £50 to the Road Victims Trust.

Lunch was the usual very animated time for delegates to network, after which Darren Barker from Anglia Cooperative Funerals gave a talk on how he and his staff choose a celebrant for each service and what happens when a new celebrant approaches them: they seek evidence of training and accreditation! This was a useful session for new members and gave them insight as to how they could convince Funeral Directors to use them. Darren was very informative and had some challenging questions to answer.

The afternoon's workshop, 'Toolkits', was facilitated with the help of Sarah Willis. The essence of a 'toolkit' having been explained, Sarah used her experience of children's funerals to show what 'toolkits' she had and how skills we may have from a previous career can be transferred. The session started off as a whole group and then split into two different working groups. The crux of the workshop was about what resources we already have as a celebrant, whether they are tangible or intangible, along with those which we can gain to add to our own 'toolkit'. Lots of anecdotes of experiences and practices were exchanged with all the delegates realising that they already had a cache of tools they could use.

There were many positive suggestions about a 'toolkit' resource for all members - the Council will be working on this in the very near future, and it will, in time, made available in the Members' Area of the website.

The day ended with Andrew Hamel-Cooke giving a session on Crystal Voice Coaching. After a lot of huffing and puffing we all eventually found our voice, which was amazing. Andrew explained that it is very rare to be 'tone deaf', as many of us thought we were - no excuse then for not singing the hymns in our services! This session was great fun and, in addition to the laughter, left all determined to use our diaphragm in a more constructive way. It was on that high that we all finished a very good day.

Many thanks to all who attended the day and to the council members who worked to make the day one of hard work but fun. Special thanks to Barbara, for all her help with the organisation.

The next date for our diary is the IoCF Conference at Yarnfield Conference Centre, Stafford on the weekend of the 6th-8th November 2015. We already have some very interesting speakers lined up and the Council is working on the programme of events. If you have any suggestions for the weekend they would be very much appreciated. Please let Barbara know and she will pass your ideas on to the Council.

Best Wishes
Christine Rose
 

 
Admin News

Who's Who ... on your booking forms
A plea from Barbara - could you please ensure that all client titles are added in the contact details section (Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Dr etc). Names such as Pat, Alex, Chris, Ashley etc could be male or female. Many thanks.
 

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.
 

 
Database Statistics

Here are the stats for February 2015.

Total number of booking forms logged: 726

 
2015 Diary Dates

 
And Finally ...

Congratulations to the following members who have reached another milestone in their work:
        Jenny Gibbs, Jo Donlevy, Chris Howe, Chris Mills, Padraic Cawley and Lawrence Jacobs.
 

And thank you for reading.
Barbara