Funeral Service Times August 2017 May 2019 | Page 12

12 DISPATCHES
NHS targets funeral plan
customers to boost organ
donors Ex Co-op execs invest £500K in
death tech start-up Guardian
Angel
Rest Assured Funeral Plans is working with the NHS to talk to their
customers about joining the donation register
The NHS is targeting consumers buying funeral plans in a bid to
boost numbers on its Organ Donation Register.
The service’s Blood and Transplant department has launched a
pilot scheme to intercept customers who buy and plan pre-paid
funerals, and ask them to consider becoming an organ donor at the
same time.
Rest Assured Funeral Plans will champion its new approach for
the next two months and give its customers the chance to put
their names on the NHS Organ Donor Register when buying a
funeral plan. If they don’t, they will be given further opportunity
to join online at a later time. They will also receive organ donation
information in their welcome pack.
Both organisations will monitor the public’s response to the
scheme. If successful, NHS Blood and Transplant hopes other
funeral plan companies will follow suit.
Rest Assured Funeral Plans’ CEO, Thomas Loughran, said: “The
advent of the funeral plan, and funeral plan companies, has made
it possible to reach many more people when they are making end
of life arrangements. Raising the subject of organ donation with our
customers when they are purchasing a funeral plan is logical and
progressive.”
In spring 2020, the law around organ donation in England will
change. All adults
in England will be
considered to have
agreed to be an
organ donor when
they die, unless
they record an
“opt out” decision
not to donate, or
are in an excluded
group. The secure platform helps to reduce the stress in the immediate
aftermath of a loved one’s death by enabling users to coordinate
support from family and friends
Guardian Angel, an online platform that aims to simplify the
bereavement process; connecting families, friends and funeral
directors together, has closed its pre-seed round, raising £492,000
after investment from former Co-op executives.
The secure platform helps to reduce the stress in the immediate
aftermath of a loved one’s death by enabling users to coordinate
support from family and friends. There is a ‘key times’ function
which informs people when they can visit and when users and
their families would like to be alone. Its ‘To-Do list’ allows users
to manage all tasks and ask friends for help. Users can also share
funeral information privately and stagger support, like flower
deliveries, so they do not all arrive at once.
Guardian Angel was conceived in 2017 by former financial
professional Sam Grice, following the unexpected death of his
mother in a road accident. Having been personally exposed to the
end of life industry, Grice said its “lack of digital efficiency” became
evident as he and his family struggled to coordinate tasks and the
sudden influx of communications.
Sam Grice, Guardian Angel founder, said: “The funeral sector has
been slow to modernise and digitise its services but we are talking
to funeral directors on a daily basis about the benefits of creating
a Guardian Angel support hub for their clients, as we believe
technology can really help in the bereavement process.”
Funeral director
transforms police station
into office
The family-run firm purchased the former police station in
December 2017 and has spent the last 16 months transforming it to
the standard of its other offices across Devon and Cornwall
Walter C. Parson Funeral Directors has opened a new premises
in Callington, Cornwall, which will become its 11th across the South
West Peninsula.
The family-run firm purchased the former police station in
December 2017 and has spent the last 16 months transforming it to
the standard of its other offices across Devon and Cornwall.
John Ware, assistant managing director at Walter C. Parson, said:
“There is parking for six cars, which is great for our customers, and
the site is large enough to allow us to have a funeral home to the
standards that we want to achieve. This is the seventh generation to
run the business and it is a firm that started just up the road in Stoke
Climsland, so we are almost going back to our roots.”
The funeral home is situated in the centre of town in Saltash
Road, with a reception and administration office, arrangement
rooms, a chapel of rest, and preparation facilities. The company
MAY 2019
held a launch event on Wednesday 10 April with 35 local guests in
attendance.
Stephen Ware, managing director, said: “We have invested in
people, facilities and premises. Today we have 11 offices – including
The Old Police Station – and 35 vehicles in our fleet, but we couldn’t
do any of this without all 73 of our staff, managers and directors
buying in to the professionalism and commitment to a caring
service which, I believe, is unparalleled.”
www.funeralservicetimes.co.uk