Launch of Children’s Funeral Fund Promises Help for Bereaved Parents 0

Children’s Funeral Fund

The launch of the Children’s Funeral Fund was announced this week, over a year since then-Prime Minister Theresa May approved it. The Fund offers bereaved parents much-needed help with cremation, burial and coffin costs.

The Children’s Funeral Fund comes as a result of a lengthy cross-party campaign led by Labour MP Carolyn Harris, whose son Martin died tragically at the age of 8. Harris’ tireless campaigning has already led to success in Wales, with England following suit now.

 

Who does the Children’s Funeral Fund help?

The Children’s Funeral Fund offers financial support to parents who have lost a child under the age of 18. The Fund also supports parents who lose a child in the late stages of pregnancy, after 24 weeks.

 

What does the Children’s Funeral Fund cover?

The Fund will cover:

  • All cremation costs, including certificates
  • All burial fees, including grave digging 
  • Up to £300 towards the cost of a coffin

 

How do parents claim from the Fund?

The Children’s Funeral Fund is organised so that most parents won’t have to do more than they usually would to arrange their child’s funeral. Instead, funeral directors and staff at crematoria and cemeteries will simply apply to the Fund for payment for their services.

Families who choose to arrange the funeral themselves, without the help of a funeral director, will also be able to apply to the Children’s Funeral Fund on their own behalf.

If you are a funeral professional and you’d like to find out more about how exactly to claim from the Children’s Funeral Fund on behalf of a family, click here.

 

What doesn’t the Children’s Funeral Fund cover?

Most funeral directors waive their professional fees when caring for a child who has died. Now, with the coffin,cremation and burial fees also taken care of, the cost of a funeral is almost completely covered. Parents will only have to pay for a few third party services, such as flowers and a venue for the wake.

 

Is other help available?

For parents who need financial help with the remaining costs, it’s useful to know that they will still be able to apply for the Funeral Expenses Payment. This is a type of government grant available to pay for a funeral if the family is on certain qualifying benefits. You can find out more about the Funeral Expenses Payment and other forms of financial support here.

Are you a bereaved parent, or a funeral professional? Share your thoughts about the new Children’s Funeral Fund here.

Previous ArticleNext Article

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CMA Report Calls for Price Transparency 0

Many of our regular readers will know by now that the CMA’s interim report landed late last week.

It’s clear from the contents that the government have validated what we’ve all been saying on behalf of families and independent funeral directors for the last few years. Specifically that:

  • The large chains have preyed on bereaved families with excessive price hikes in both funeral director and crematorium fees, as well as failing to provide clarity of ownership.
  • The NAFD has failed consumers, specifically that it has ‘fallen short’ and may have been ‘detrimental to competition’. Particularly that it has taken a position on websites like Beyond that’s ‘ambiguous at best’ and that it risks ‘distorting the market’ by its actions.

We’re delighted that hardworking independent funeral directors who publish their pricing online are going to be rewarded by the CMA, while those who deliberately make their prices difficult to discover are taken to task.

We’ll be doing our part, too. We’ll be supporting all the independent funeral directors signed up to our service so that they can be sure they’re meeting any recommendations from the CMA on comparable price transparency, simply by being on our website. We’ve also got a bundle of free services coming for our partners in the New Year.

If you’re not yet signed up with us, but you’d like to join the thousands of funeral directors on our site who are doing their bit towards price transparency in this industry, why not make an account today? We’d love to have you with us.

There are no monthly fees, and our funeral finance, free wills and estate administration services are there to help you offer the families to help complete, well-rounded support. Simply give us a call on 0800 044 9454 and we’ll get you set up in a matter of minutes, or build your free business profile here.

Beyond ‘Let’s Talk About Death’ Campaign Wins Drum Award 0

Beyond win Drum Out of Home Awards

Season’s greetings!

Celebrations are underway at the Beyond office this week, as we’ve been given an early Christmas present: a prestigious marketing award!

Our summer ‘Let’s Talk About Death’ campaign has won the Drum Creative Out of Home Award in the ‘Viral’ category, with the judges praising our success in driving a conversation about death against the odds.

Let’s talk about death…

Released mid-July, our ‘Let’s Talk About Death’ campaign used a little black humour to break through the silence that surrounds anything death-related. You can check out all of the ads here.

Rejected by TFL, the ‘Let’s Talk About Death’ campaign found new life on social media. The ‘banned’ ads were then quickly picked up by press across the world. We appeared in print, on TV and on the radio, sparking an energetic debate about whether and how we should talk about funeral services.

As we’ve said before, we couldn’t be more delighted with the results of this campaign. We strongly believe that to drive positive change in this industry – whether that be price transparency, or a better approach to after life services overall – we as a society need to be talking about death.

This campaign achieved that. And, as an added bonus, thousands of people have created their will online with us for free, raising several hundred thousand pounds for charity through legacy gifts.

Beyond win Drum Out of Home Award 2018Our CEO, Ian Strang, has this to say:

“When something is taboo, as with death, it creates an environment where bad actors can operate. And our fear of engaging on the subject – creating that shared code of silence – allows predators to rip us off. We pay too much for funerals, funeral plans and wills because we don’t feel able to shop around.

“Following the controversy, we were overwhelmed by the support we received from the public and this award gives a further stamp of approval from the advertising industry to our campaign.”

Thank you for your support

As gratifying as awards are, the most rewarding outcome from this campaign has been the support we’ve received both from those in the industry and the general public.

We’ve heard from independent funeral directors, who appreciated that only by breaking the silence around funerals could we advocate for those in this industry who offer the best value and service to their customers.

We’ve also heard from non-profits – those who campaign for the same fairness and transparency we aim to provide.

And we’ve heard from bereaved people themselves, who stood up for us and fought for their right to know that services like ours exist. This support has meant the world to us.

In the end, 76% of those who saw our ads agreed that they didn’t deserve to be hidden away: that a conversation about death is a conversation worth having. To all those people, thank you. And let’s keep that conversation going.