The funeral industry is about to get its first ever set of industry awards, courtesy of the Good Funeral Guide, in a move which should help give some welcome publicity to the often overlooked but vital services performed by funeral directors and others within the sector.
How the awards work
Awards will be given out in a total of 14 different categories, which are available from the Good Funeral Guide’s website.
For the most part they will be fairly familiar to anyone who has ever been involved with industry awards in any sector, with predictable titles like “Best Funeral Director” and “Most Promising New Funeral Director”. Some, however, are rather novel, displaying a somewhat macabre sense of humour, such as “The Eternal Slumber Award for Coffin Supplier of the Year” and “Best Alternative to a Hearse”.
The general public is free to nominate anyone they think is worthy of receiving one of these awards in each category. The judging panel will decide who the winners are from among the nominees, with the awards being given out at a prize ceremony in Bournemouth on Friday 7 September. Winners will receive a small trophy and a certificate in honour of their accomplishment.
What the organizers say about them
The organizers clearly see this is as an excellent opportunity to shed some light into the often mysterious world of the funeral industry.
“The funeral industry has many characters and styles, we want to recognise the diversity of the industry and allow the public to have some say in what they think is good. We thought we’d trial this format in 2012 to see if it’s an effective way to acknowledge outstanding service to the bereaved,” according to Brian Jenner, one of the award organizers.
How to nominate someone
As explained above, anyone can nominate anyone else for one of these awards, so nominations can come from both members of the general public and people within the funeral industry.
Those wishing to make a nomination need to send a written recommendation (no more than 100 words) explaining why that person or organization should be given one of these awards to the organizers. Full details of how to do this can be found on the Good Funeral Guide website using the link provided above.
