The panel has sifted through hundreds of nominations for this year’s Good Funeral Awards.
The judges have requested that their deliberations remain secret. While they appreciate that many people will be disappointed, they wish to remind everyone that this is an annual event, and each year the method of selection improves. Please do not lose heart, just enter again next year.
If you are a nominee, make sure you’ve got a ticket for the dinner at the University of Winchester on 5 September 2015. We sold out last year, and we do not wish to turn nominees away this year. Accommodation is available at the University of Winchester.
Private Pike (Ian Lavender) from Dad’s Army will be presenting the awards.
We have longlisted the following:
Funeral Director of the Year
Steve Jefferies – F A Holland & Son
John McGillivray – Funeral Directors in Edinburgh
Graham and his team – Wessex Funeral Services
A.R.Adams Funeral Directors
Lucy Jane – The Individual Funeral Company
Derek Crawford – Hunter’s Funeral Directors
Les Davies Funeral Directors
Rebecca Diamond – A.W.Lymn
Bungard and Sons in Hove
Wallace Stuart
Alan Scollen – Scollen & Wright Funeral Services
Aaron Bewley – Bewley and Merrett
Embalmer of the Year
Matthew Newton of M-balm
Julie Smith – Stibbards and Sons Leigh-on-Sea
Most Promising New Funeral Director of the Year sponsored by the Church of England
Judith Dandy – Dandelion Farewells
Anna Wardle – Bewley & Merrett
Colin Fisher – Colin Fisher Funeral Directors
Carrie Weekes and Frances Glover – A Natural Undertaking
Michelle Balam – Roseberry Funeral Service, Redcar
Tiffaney Grant – Leverton & Sons Ltd
Funeral Arranger of the Year
Janet Ward – Francis Chappell & Sons
Emma Fisher – Colin Fisher Funeral Directors
Sarah Wolsey – Daniel Ross Funerals
Celia de Silva – Francis Chapell & Sons
Angela Bailey – Harrison Funeral Home
Celebrant of the Year
Emma Curtis
Rev Juliet Stephenson
Jane Morgan
Pauline Hyde Coomber
Beverley Levy-Price
Ellie Farrell
Judy Mansfield
Derren Gallo
Scott Solway
Lifetime Achievement Award
Felicity Warner – Soul Midwives
Ken West
Nigel Lymn Rose – A.W.Lymn
Mark Green – Co-founder the Bereavement Services Association
Josephine Speyer – Natural Death Centre
Charles Cowling – Good Funeral Guide
Major Contribution to the Understanding of Death
Angie McLachlan for her work with Ichabod
Carla Valentine – St Bart’s Pathology Museum
Felicity Warner – Soul Midwives
Hermione Elliott – Living Well Dying Well
Claire Turnham – Only with Love
Professor Tony Walter – Centre of Death and Society, University of Bath
Best Alternative Hearse sponsored by Motorcycle Funerals
Levertons Funeral Directors Eco Hearse
Morris Minor Hearse
David Hall Vintage Lorry Funerals
Cemetery of the Year
Epsom Cemetery
Portchester Memorial Gardens
Horncastle Cemetery
Clandon Wood
Respect, Green Burial site at Laughton in Lincolnshire
Westmill Burial Ground, Swindon
Florist of the Year
Rebecca Sharp – Dazzle Me Daisy Do/Rainbows at Sunset
Miss Mole’s Flower Emporium
Cream & Browns Florist
Stems UK
Helen Pyle, resident florist at Memorial Woodland, Bristol
Association of Green Funeral Directors Green Funeral Director of the Year
Carrie Weekes and Fran Glover at A Natural Undertaking
Maggie and Tony Brinklow at Margaret Rose Funerals
Tracy O’Leary at Woodland Wishes
Jonathan Mees and Ian Hope at Oak Funeral Services
Crematorium Attendant
Andy Hands – Bramcote Crematorium, Nottingham
Charles Howlett – Superintendent at Chilterns Crematorium, Amersham
Gravedigger of the Year
Ivor Davies – Gwaelody y Brithdir, Caerphilly County Borough Council
Stuart Goodacre – Horncastle Cemetery
Andy Slade – Fairspear and Westmill
Coffin Supplier of the Year
Cradle to Grave
Feet First
Honest Coffins
Best Bereavement Resource
Bereavement.co.uk
ScatteringAshes.co.uk
SocialEmbers.com
Down to Earth
The Loss Foundation
Natural Death Centre
To Absent Friends
Mortuary Assistant (APT) Team or Individual sponsored by Respect Everybody Shrouds
Mrs Sarah Davis – Lead APT/Mortuary Manager at the Birmingham Women’s Hospital
Michelle Lancaster, North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust
Mortuary Team at University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire
Kristoffer Hughes – Her Majesty’s Coroner
The Mortuary Team at the Princess Royal Hospital, Orpington.
Barbara Peters – Mortuary Services, University College London Hospital
Mortuary Team The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Mortuary (APT) Team Rob Charlsworth & Les Fern – DRI Doncaster, Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Trust