Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to this Special Autumn Newsletter. Things having been moving apace in the Institute, with so many changes, tweaks and adjustments, your Council decided that a newsletter delivered to each and every member was the best solution.

In this edition:

Changes
Communication
Council
Costs
Conference
... and much else (I ran out of alliteration!)

Changes

As an Institute we have amicably parted company with Mervyn Pilley. His offices - our 'HQ' - were not being re-leased in July and his workload had increased so much that he could not devote the time to us that was needed.

Council then faced something of a dilemma - and had a very short space of time in which to make the required decisions. The IoCF now rents office space from Civil Ceremonies Ltd, where Anne Barber was able to accommodate us. We have our own Administrator - Barbara Pearce - and our own independent phone line and office equipment. The separation that exists between Civil Ceremonies Ltd, our preferred training partner, and the IoCF remains in place, although Anne remains on the Council of Management. However, on behalf of you all, I thank Anne for making the space available for Barbara to work as independently as she does.

Communications

Our postal address is now

Institute of Civil Funerals
6 Nene Road
Bicton Industrial Park
KIMBOLTON
PE28 0LF

Our phone number is now: 01480 861 411

Our e-mail address is now: barbara@iocf.org.uk

Council

I cannot let this newsletter go out without a word of thanks on your behalf and mine to your Council.

Like you, each and every one of them has a busy diary with not only funerals and work within the wider funeral industry, but with life in general - and yet they have given freely of a huge amount of time to make sure the IoCF not only survives a difficult period but thrives thereafter. By chance I was on an extended holiday at a time that proved to the busiest and most crucial so I can take none of the credit for the sheer hard work that has gone into all this.

... and more Council bits

At the Annual General Meeting on Saturday 17 November 2012, new Council members will be appointed. Are you the sort of person who wants to be involved?

Are you the sort of person who could make a positive contribution to the running of the IoCF? Would you like to join a group of like-minded people? Then you are the person we would love to see putting themselves forward to serve on Council.

Please do give the matter some serious thought. A circulation will soon be going out asking for nominations – put your name down if you possibly can.

Costs

I have successfully waited until here until dealing with the matter of costs!

You can breathe a sigh of relief - annual subscriptions are not about to go up!

Council have reviewed the retail cost of various items we supply and the shocking fact is that in some cases we have been selling them on for less than cost price. I am sure you will appreciate that this is not a situation which could be allowed to continue. These now are the prices for our range of stock (all plus post and packaging):

Badges – the 'gold' IoCF ones: £10
IoCF Gold logo Zipped writing case: £20
IoCF Gold logo delivery folder: £10 (a reduction on the old price – not all bad news!)
Civil Funeral leaflets (min quantity 100): 12p each
Business cards: 50 @ £26.40; 100 @ £39.96; 200 @ £46.20; 400 @ £51.46; 500 @ £55.44

Should you need clarification on these or any other prices, please ring Barbara in the Office weekdays 10am-2pm

Expertise needed

In amongst all you dedicated celebrants out there is there just one of you who has some expertise in the field of marketing and PR?

Your Council are keen to co-opt someone who has this very specialised knowledge who could help promote the Institute – not only within the funeral industry but to the public at large.

As with all Council positions, the job is on a voluntary basis – but in this instance, expenses would be payable.

Are you just that person? Then contact Peter McNulty on 07710 218 400

Industry events

As an IoCF Member, you are all most welcome to attend various 'trade' events and take advantage of our Associate Membership of SAIF.

SAIF have notified us of the following meetings:

3 Oct - Kent - The Grangemoor Hotel, Maidstone
24 Oct – Liverpool – The Park Hotel, Netherton
31 Oct – Sussex – The East Sussex National Hotel, Uckfield
23 Nov – West Wales – The Ivy Bush Hotel, Carmarthen


Should you wish to attend any of these events, please call Linda on 0845 230 6777

Member benefits

About to be released - and on sale at Conference - a CCL update on wording for scripts. This will include very useful new wording choices. Also available will be an electronic version of the new Poetry and Readings booklet from CCL.

Your Council looks regularly at the question of an insurance package for Members. At the moment we cannot better an offer of £150 a year for public liability insurance and one of £250 per year for professional indemnity. If you would like details, please e-mail Anne Barber at anne@civilceremonies.co.uk.

Website

We have engaged a company called Siserone to completely revamp our website and I am sure you will have seen not only the regular bulletins from Council on their progress as the transfer took place, but also the fruits of their labours - a spanking new, fit for purpose and easily navigated website.

Skilled 'website engineers' they may be, but even the most skilled people meet glitches! The Forum is a constant source of problems. I don't pretend to understand, but doubtless our old and creaking technology on our former website has not helped.

Please be patient with Mike and Sharon. They have worked wonders for us so far and doubtless will continue to do so.

We know too that the 'Find a Celebrant' page is not yet quite right. The map is a wonderful innovation - getting the particulars right around it is the ongoing issue. Again, thanks to Mike at Siserone for working on it.

... and so to our final bit of news - Conference

Viv O'Neill has worked long and hard to produce a splendid Conference - and with the very active help of Julie Dunk doing all the groundwork, she has found a splendid venue. The content and the attendance - we will be equally splendid!

Our venue this year is Hillscourt in Rednal on the outskirts of Birmingham - chosen because it is central to us all. Hillscourt is the national HQ of a teachers union - the NASUWT - and comes equipped with everything we need for a weekend conference.

The weekend includes Julie Dunk and Blue with their Quiz – and thanks to Blue for his very generous sponsorship within this event. There will be presentations and guest speakers on a wide variety of topics. Above all there will be an opportunity to meet and compare notes with other like-minded people, whether over convivial meals, in the bar or in more formal workshops. As a bonus, you get to meet your new Administrator, Barbara Pearce! She is coming for the weekend and will be in charge of registration and front-of-house duties. It is a chance for her - and for you - to put a face to a name.

All these things come at a cost - but here again Viv has worked wonders! The cost will be exactly the same as for our 2008 Conference at Yarnfield - great value at £299 per attendee for the whole weekend. There is a sliding scale of fees for one-day attendance - full details of the venue, costs and booking information will be sent to you shortly.

Part of the Saturday afternoon of Conference will be devoted to the AGM. Formal notification will come to you in due course. Council are well aware that there is much to be said and you will all be entitled to have your say. I speak as the Chairman when I say I will not stifle discussion and I believe everyone has a right to his or her view. What I would ask, however, is that if you have any burning issue which you specifically wish to raise, please don't hijack the meeting but just let me have a short e-mail giving some brief details of what you wish to raise. That way we will all be prepared and ready for reasoned discussion. My e-mail address is: petermcnulty27@yahoo.co.uk.

... and finally

This newsletter has been prepared by the Chairman of your Council, Peter McNulty. If you detect any errors in it, please accept my apologies! I hope you like the new format.

Kind regards to you all

Peter McNulty