Farewell to a challenging year

words: Jo Parker, SAIF 1st Vice President
Jo Parker

I’ve been asked to write the President’s editorial this month as Mark is recovering from COVID which has rather knocked him for six. We wish him a speedy recovery.

So, here we are at the end of 2021, and it would be fair to say that this year has been as tough, in fact it has been even tougher than 2020.

We’ve had the CMA changing the look of our funeral homes and online presence, and the FCA changing the way we sell funeral plans to our families and, of course, COVID continues to linger on. All in all, it’s been another pretty tricky year which I’m sure has tested most of us at some stage.

But these changes have been embraced by most of the membership who have risen to the CMA challenge and put their Standardised Price Lists online, declared their ownership and exhibited all the information that is required in their windows and offices.

They’ve worked with their plan providers to be sure they are ready for the FCA changes that are coming into play next year and they have looked after the families who continue to be affected by COVID, be it the virus itself or late diagnosis due to the hospital delays it has caused.

The profession has yet again shown how robust it is in facing changes and it has also proved the need for a strong trade association, such as SAIF, which will lead at Government level and will always put the needs of the independent funeral director first, be it a small single-branch company or a large family group.

SAIF is here for each and every one of its members and will continue to lead the way in 2022 with exciting membership benefits, advice and guidance.

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