PRESS INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF ALLIED AND INDEPENDENT FUNERAL DIRECTORS 
Choose Before You Go

For the greater part of the past 2,000 years what happens upon our death has been more or less dictated by convention, if not the law. Choice was never really an option except for the exceedingly wealthy and sometimes the exceptionally famous such as Winston Churchill or Ronald Reagan.

However, in the past 100 years a great deal has changed in our attitude to death and despite the ubiquitous black funeral cortege, people can actually have a choice in how they are put to rest. The difficulty is, that all too few of us take that deep breath and step into the funeral director's offices to discuss what our options are, never mind talk them over with our families.

The Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) aims to change all that by staging a National Bereavement Awareness Day on Saturday the 8th November, when  public and professionals alike can pop in to their local SAIF member and discuss the options available to them. 

CEO of SAIF, Alun Tucker says, "We believe that too many people accept what the funeral director wants to offer them rather than what the deceased and his or her family would wish. The time of bereavement is not the best time for making decisions, and relatives or friends arranging a funeral often don't feel confident about what they should be asking the funeral director.

"The Awareness Day event is designed to help people understand what is involved and what choices they have, from a "DIY funeral" through a range of options including environmentally sound burials to flamboyant showpiece affairs. A  family should be making the right choice, not just accepting what is offered. If the dearly departed was a lifelong environmentalist, perhaps the choice of casket, and the method and place of burial should reflect that life."

The other side of the coin is that when people do shop around, this is often done more on cost than on value.

As Tucker points out, "The 10 days before a funeral are not the best of times to be looking through the fine print. SAIF members will as a matter of course provide a full breakdown of services as part of their quotation. But as most people only get to be directly involved in a funeral twice in their lives, this is still not the informed consumer decision that it perhaps could be" 

The privilege of planning one's own funeral is no longer the remit of the wealthy and the famous. It is an option that we can all take. It can help relieve the fear of death and it can ease the burden on the mourning family and friends, knowing that this is what was wanted.

Funeral Directors participating in the SAIF National Bereavement Awareness Day on Saturday the 8th November, will make themselves available from 10.00 am until 4.00 pm. 

Ends

Image Caption: "SAIF: Working to make bereavement more bearable"

Images and further information at: http://www.aardvarkpr.co.uk/downloads.htm

Editors contact:   Francis Samish 	Aardvark Associates tel. 01308 897 911
email: south@aardvarkpr.co.uk
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.