Life is full of imponderable questions and this one’s been niggling me for a while: what are the real benefits to me personally or my business of belonging to one or more of our trade organisations?
Whether it is the National Association of Funeral Directors or the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors, or any other body aiming to represent or promote funeral directing, many of us pay substantial sums each year to join or maintain membership.
What are we actually getting in return? Do they provide value for money? And what relevance will they have when our sector is finally legislated and regulated?
A framed certificate in your office reception hardly justifies the cost. A polished website may look impressive at first glance, but when news hasn’t been updated since December 2024, the image starts to wear thin. Too often it feels like presentation over substance.
Public confidence in funeral directors is at an all-time low thanks to scandal after scandal. It feels like barely a month goes by without another funeral director arrest or court case or some terrible headline about a traumatised family. What difference have
trade associations made to that? I mean really made, not the media appearances or the well-meaning PR campaigns, but in terms of how the great British public views our profession. Do people really look for trade association membership as a mark of quality and reassurance – or do we just want to think they do?
They say the government is minded to make membership mandatory and give them statutory powers. Balls.
I don’t know how many people are employed across these organisations, but I do know this: from where many of us stand, the practical benefit to funeral directors on the ground feels limited.
How many of those leading these bodies have recent, hands-on experience of arranging funerals, meeting families, conducting services, or dealing with the pressures of day-to-day funeral directing?
Policies, committees, codes of practice and environmental statements all have their place, but where is the meaningful, practical support for the businesses paying to keep these organisations going? Where is the clear advice, the real advocacy, the
visible action, and the measurable value?
Too often, the impression given is one of self-interest: a club of senior figures polishing their chains and congratulating themselves, while ordinary funeral directors get on with the real work.
So here is a genuine challenge to those at the top: tell us plainly what you do, how it directly benefits funeral directors, and why we should continue to support you. Because if you can’t answer that clearly, many of us will start asking whether these organisations exist to serve the profession, or simply themselves.
Get in touch at undercoverundertaker1@gmail.com
The Undercover Undertaker questions the value of trade associations
