SAIF Golden Charter

Prime-time viewing on The One Show

SAIF Associate David Homer made his debut on national TV recently, with a guest appearance on the BBC’s The One Show.

David was one of three industry award-winners who appeared on the primetime show on Wednesday, 4 January after he won Gravedigger of the Year in 2016. During his appearance, David had to mime his job for comedian Jack Whitehall to guess his career.

Speaking on the primetime show to co-host Matt Baker, David said: “It’s someone’s final resting place and I ensure they [the family] are not looking at a hole. You have to dress it nicely, put [out] flowers, sawdust at the bottom, and just generally do the best job you can.”

David also brought his mum along to the show and there was much hilarity as co-host Alex Jones mistakenly presumed he had also dug his mother’s grave. David quickly cleaned up the confusion but Alex erupted into fits of giggles while Matt carried on with the show’s next segment.

Nominated by many of the funeral directors he works with, David was the standout favourite to win Gravedigger of the Year.

David featured in November’s issue of SAIFInsight (issue 182) and explained how he maintains impeccable standards and always puts families first.

He said: “All the jobs I’ve had, you’ve got to be respectful in everything you do. At the end of the day, I’m trying to provide a service for the families. You only get to bury your parents once, so I make the graves look as nice as I can, to take away some of the harshness. It is quite a harsh environment – to look plainly it’s just a hole in the ground. I don’t see it like that though, I see it as somebody’s final resting place.”

David owns DTH Burial and Churchyard Services and has five members of staff to help to dig the 300-odd graves he digs every year.

To view a clip of David appearing on the show, visit the BBC iPlayer where the clip will be available until the end of January.