SAIF – a family of families in business

SAIF thanks Paul Allcock for his words. Paul is SAIF’s government liaison rep, a past president and long-standing member of the Executive Committee.

I find myself writing this article the day after my mother has died and at the end of what is undoubtedly the busiest day my business has ever had. I am both physically and mentally drained and it is a challenge to write anything here at all.

However, like so many of my colleagues, I have to carry on and still provide a level of service and support to my clients which is befitting of the high standards we all should aspire to. It is a huge challenge to give of yourself to others when you are in need of support yourself, but this is exactly what we have to do at times like this. I am not seeking sympathy here as there are so many funeral directors who have found themselves in the exactly the same position as me at some point in their career and many over the last year.

And yet I haven’t heard of any who haven’t somehow managed to carry out their duties in the dignified and respectful manner which they always do,
and without complaint. To assist others to mourn appropriately during the many restrictions we find ourselves under is difficult enough. But to do so whilst in mourning yourself is a whole other challenge.

I pray daily that we will soon see an end to this awful pandemic which has taken the lives of so many and which has affected everyone at some point along it’s journey. But there is some light still, even in these darkest of days. Each of my family and staff have now received their first dose of the vaccine together with many other funeral colleagues across the country.

For this, I thank the hard work that Terry Tennens, the CEO of SAIF, and our colleagues from kindred associations who have lobbied for funeral workers to be added to the list of critical workers. Their efforts have not only given a renewed spirit of hope within the funeral sector workforces, but they may well have saved a few lives along the way. I thank you all.

I have a faith in God, which helps me enormously and I am confident that my mother is in a far better place now with her Lord. But I also have great faith in so many of the people working in the funeral profession. At times like these we need the support of family and friends. And that is exactly what SAIF is, a family of families in business. Here to help, aid and support each other through difficult times.

Never have we needed our associations more than at this current time. And SAIF, together with its kindred associations, have never stood up taller than they are doing so right now. Long may they continue to be there for us all.