PRESS INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF ALLIED AND INDEPENDENT FUNERAL DIRECTORS 

Be Remembered The Way You Want To Be

Great men and women labour lovingly over autobiographies to make sure that posterity will look kindly upon their achievements. Yet for most us, our whole life and work will be summarised in a simple 10 to 15 minute eulogy at the funeral. A hasty collage of memories from nearest, dearest or work colleagues perhaps, giving at best a two-dimensional picture of who we were, where our interests lay and what we achieved.

"Everyone has a story to tell, but often family and friends only get to hear disjointed snippets before the conversation changes course once more. We may not think it is important, but our children in turn may well look at medals, old photographs and yellowed documents one day, and wonder what these things all mean. You have only to look at the rise and rise of interest in people researching their ancestors through the internet and the Public Records Office", explains Alan Tucker, CEO of the Society of Allied and Independent Funeral directors' (SAIF).

Putting together a collection of objects, albums and personal correspondence into a so-called 'memory box' can also be a help for next of kin coming to terms with loss during the first 12 to 18 months after a loss. "It is both a way of leaving messages to those whom you love, and of letting them discover at their own pace things you may have forgotten to tell them in life. On a more practical note, doing this can save items you feel important from being mistakenly destroyed or given away by family or executors", Tucker adds.

"Most of us over a certain age will have made a will, but this usually only covers the financial and legal issues. By talking to a funeral home participating in SAIF's National Bereavement Awareness Week initiative this September, it gives people the chance to explore some of the ways now available to help them be remembered the way they want to be".

These include the newer generation of personalised pre-payment plans that can be extended all the way from the day of the funeral, to specifying the inscription on a headstone, and emerging forms of memorialisation such as keepsake cremation jewellery.

National Bereavement Awareness Week runs from the 21st to 26th September 2009, when SAIF members up and down the country will open their doors to the public to foster a greater awareness of the services which they can provide, and help relieve the British taboo on death.

Ends

Image caption: 'Pre-planning a funeral can mean avoiding being remembered for all the wrong reasons' 

Note:

More images and further information at: http://www.aardvarkpr.co.uk/downloads.htm
A full list of SAIF funeral directors can be found at http://www.saif.org.uk


Editors contact:				Aardvark Associates tel. 01308 897 911

Company contact:			SAIF  tel. 0845 230 6777

Please note that this document is for information only and is non-contractual;
both Aardvark Associates and SAIF decline all liability in the case of omissions or errors.