NAFD News

NAFD Member Benefits

Category A England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands Category B

* Category A members only

Business Advice & Support

• Client Will search facility * • Repatriation Helpline * • * • Stationery solutions • NAFD Energy Club • NAFD Telecoms • NAFD Legal Advisory Service • Counselling helpline for staff/family • Property Planning Advice • Health & Safety advice • PR Handbook and PR Helpline • Merchant card services • NAFD Fast Track Debt Recovery Service

Knowledge Sharing

• Networking opportunities through Area

Federation and Local Association meetings • Conference and Autumn General Meeting • Member website • Attendance at National Funeral Exhibition (discount on stand space if exhibiting)

Professional Credibility

• Code of Practice and client dispute resolution service, NAFD Resolve * • Listing on funeral-directory.co.uk * • Listing on supplier member search on

NAFD website • Use of logos and marketing collateral

Financial

• Fleet breakdown cover * • Fleet insurance * • Perfect Choice Funeral Plans * • £5m professional indemnity insurance * • £150k employment claims insurance • £150k H&S prosecution insurance • £150k HMRC & VAT investigation insurance • Personal/commercial insurance discounts • Royal Mail Same Day Service

Communication/Representation

• Parliamentary campaigning • Monthly copy of Funeral

Director Monthly • Discounted advertising in Funeral

Director Monthly • Free editorial in Funeral Director Monthly • Monthly e-newsletter • NAFD social media • Regular e-communication updates on important issues affecting your business

Professional Development

• • Election to NAFD boards/committees

General

• Volvo schemes offering preferential rates *

Category C Benefits

Category C Overseas • Discount on stand space if exhibiting at the biennial National Funeral Exhibition • A listing in the overseas member search on the

Association’s website • Monthly copy of Funeral Director Monthly • Free editorial in Funeral Director Monthly • Discounted advertising in Funeral

Director Monthly • Use of NAFD overseas member logo • Invitation to attend the NAFD Conference and

Annual General Meeting.

For more information on any of these benefits you receive as a member of the NAFD, please call: 0121 711 1343 or email: su@nafd.org.uk

NAFD News

Congratulations to the NAFD’s President and Officer team for 2022-23!

At the end of May’s NAFD Conference 2022, held at Celtic Manor Resort in Wales, funeral director and NAFD tutor John Adams was installed as NAFD President for 2022-23 along with his Officer team, First Vice-President Barry Pritchard, Second Vice-President Mark Adams and Immediate Past President Kate Edwards.

The traditional handover of the President’s chains marked the conclusion of a fantastic weekend of Association business, education and social events and outgoing President Kate Edwards concluded her year in office. Her banquet raised almost £3,000 for Ty Hafan children’s hospice.

John Adams set out his determination to campaign for better bereavement education Left to right: Mark Adams, Kate Edwards, John Adams and Barry Pritchard

in schools during his year in office and commitment to supporting Child Bereavement UK, his chosen charity.

Final few places available for NAFD Summer School

Monday 11 – Wednesday 13 July 2022 St Chad’s College Durham University

The NAFD’s second, three-day residential Summer School at St Chad’s College, Durham University, hosted by the renowned anthropologist and theologian Professor Douglas Davies, is designed to support professional development and inspire bluesky thinking about the future of the funeral sector.

This year’s event will build on the themes of ritual, bereavement and the future of funerals - with topics including, poetry, grief and remembrance, changes in funeral practice and alternative forms of disposal, including resomation.

Chair of the Board of Education, Past President Alison Crake said: “Summer School in 2021 offered those of us who attended a rare opportunity to focus on issues of real importance to the future of the funeral profession and to the families we care for. It’s a fantastic opportunity for leaders and aspiring leaders to focus on their professional development.”

Only a handful of places remain. Visit www. nafdeducation.org.uk and visit the Education & Training page for more information and details of how to book.

NAFD launches LGBTQ+ Pride Facebook group

The NAFD has a long-standing commitment to inclusivity, recognising over many decades that diversity is a strength. NAFD seeks to support all of its members, acknowledging the wide variety within the funeral sector, but recognises the need to do more to ensure that the NAFD, as the largest sector trade body, are truly inclusive and representative of the sector we serve. In 2020 the NAFD launched an Equality and Diversity Initiative, with a working group that brings together member businesses, both big and small, to talk openly about their experiences of promoting equality and inclusivity in the workplace and discussing barriers to NAFD membership and engagement. Looking to 2023 and beyond, the NAFD remains committed to working with members to support their efforts to be more inclusive and support diversity by creating guidance and educational materials, hosting useful, accessible events, and profiling sector role models.

The hope is that, through this work, members of all business type and size will be able to access the resources and information they need to create truly inclusive workplaces for employees that deliver outstanding services for clients. NAFD Pride was born out of a desire for better representation from funeral service workers who identify as LGBTQ+. Funeral directors, embalmers, students, and others have told the NAFD that they do not feel as visible and included as they would like to be, and that better representation from the sector trade bodies is needed. Rachel Bradburne, who is leading the initiative, said: “The NAFD has heard that call loud and clear and we want to lead that work. We want the whole sector to feel included, visible and to feel confident that their voices can and will be heard. To support our understanding of the need, from both individuals and businesses, we will set up and manage activities and groups that facilitate information sharing and grow awareness. “We have launched a Facebook group and we hope to conduct member research in the coming months to establish how we can best support our members, to create truly inclusive workplaces for their employees and to meet and exceed the need of all their clients.” The group was created in partnership with Nathan Martin, of Viner & Sons, who brought the idea to the NAFD. Nathan said: “Having been in the funeral profession for over 25 years, I have seen the varying attitudes towards minority groups change and even experienced discrimination myself. “Despite a more positive attitude towards those groups, there is still a need for us to have a safe space where we can be ourselves, regardless of whether we are openly LGBTQ+ within the companies where we work. I was thrilled that the NAFD gave me the opportunity to present my idea for this group to them and, as such, received overwhelming support from the association to move forward together as part of the EDI plan.

“Our group will be a place to be around likeminded individuals. We can support each other in a profession with which we can all relate and I would hope that, in time, the group will grow to become a major influence within the sector, widely recognised for our contribution to equality, diversity and inclusion.”

To join the Facebook group, visit www. facebook.com/groups/nafdpride

The National Association of Funeral Directors secures Investors in People accreditation

Investors in People (IiP) has awarded the National Association of Funeral Directors the We invest in people standard accreditation. The accreditation recognises that the NAFD’s principles and practices around supporting people are in place and that everyone understands how to use them to make work better.

Investors in People is an international recognised organisation which believes that the success of any organisation begins and ends with its people. Founded in 1991 as a government project to make work better, Investors in People is a community interest company which accredits organisations for meeting its We invest in our people framework. – which rates the working experience against a range of criteria including values, leadership, empowerment and recognition. Today, seven million people are working in organisations accredited by Investors in People.

The assessment considers the organisation’s achievement against a framework, refined over three decades, that measures performance - and the process includes direct feedback from employees.

In its report, Investors in People noted: • 93% of staff said the NAFD is a great place to work and 85% of its people believe the NAFD makes a positive impact on society • The National Office team talked about a caring and supportive environment, and said that they are committed to helping the NAFD achieve its ambitions. • That everyone can feel a change in emphasis, to focus on members and their needs • The National Office team are proud of how responsive and agile they were in responding to the Competition and Marketing Authority’s findings and in setting up the Independent

Funeral Standards Organisation • IiP noted staff pride in improvements to the education programme as it grows from three courses to a range of learning activities to help people succeed

Paul Devoy, CEO of Investors in People, said: “We’d like to congratulate the NAFD. Being accredited with We invest in people is a remarkable effort for any organisation, and places the NAFD in fine company with a host of organisations that understand the value of people.”

Reflecting on the accreditation, NAFD Chief Executive Jon Levett added: “I am delighted that the NAFD has secured the valuable Investors in People accreditation, after a gap of many years.

“While we still have much work to do to ensure we are delivering an outstanding working environment in every aspect of how the NAFD supports, develops and recognises the achievements of its people, this is an important milestone. For the NAFD to be able to deliver for its members, it must first deliver for its staff – who are the assets that make NAFD membership so valuable. The team works incredibly hard and recognition like this, and the recent Trade Association of the Year award, demonstrate that we are heading in the right direction.

“I would like to thank Director of Education and Development, Karen Van-Richardson, for leading this project and for the enthusiasm and willing participation of the whole NAFD team in helping us achieve the accreditation.”