As is noted by radical undertaker Ru Callender in What Remains?, the UK funeral industry can be a expensive minefield. Ashes to Admin shows the consequences of the costly world of funerals. To be responsible for a funeral increasingly can cause people to get into debt. Funeral poverty is a growing issue, and can be one of the reasons why people will receive a Section 46 funeral; families can simply not afford it. A huge amount of shame comes with not being able to give family member a ‘proper’ send off. Death is something we all have in common so I'm always up for a book about it and this one (obviously) has it in (gravedigger) spades. It's a poignant, sometimes difficult, bizarre, and yet incredibly uplifting read. Evie King is a council worker charged with sorting out Section 46 funerals - funerals for those with no one or no one able or willing to do so on their behalf. Alongside dealing with the standard complaints we expect the council to deal with (bin collections, noise, dog poo, etc), she sees humanity, life, and death in all its strangeness. It's a job that encompasses plenty of persistent detective work, grief counseling, the obvious (and not so obvious) admin, and a tonne of empathy.

Moving out of London to the seaside, Evie found herself needing a job, and ended up working for a local council. When few details are known about the deceased, King then embarks on a search for any existing family, friends, colleagues, documentation, etc who can shed light on the dead person's life and thereby help her to tailor the funeral service to what the deceased would have liked, or what seems the most appropriate and pleasing. Where this becomes impossible is when either the deceased has no apparent family or their identity is unknown. This is where King comes into her own, setting out on a mission to find out whatever she can about them, using all the means at her disposal and some inspired methods of her own. She doesn't always succeed, but it's heartening to see the lengths to which she goes and the effort she puts in.the author is a fantastic narrator and the perfect person to guide us through this book, the emotional parts and the funny anecdotes too. As she learns on the job, her story is told through a series of case studies, from bodies discovered at home, to deaths in care homes, and on through to the outbreak of Covid, this is an insight into the way death is dealt with on a political and personal level. Where care homes have agreements with funeral homes, where families are embarrassed because they can't pay for a loved one's funeral, and the care a council can give. The idea of a paupers' funeral, even now, gives pause. What happens if you die without family or money? The answer to this very three-in-the-morning question is that Evie, or someone like her, will step in and arrange your funeral. Evie is a local council worker charged with carrying out Section 46 funerals under the Public Health Act. Or to put it in less cold, legislative language; funerals for those with nobody around, willing or able to bury or cremate them. Easy read. Felt a little voyeuristic at times and I felt her jokey style a bit off putting. I question how typical her experiences are and whether the fact that Section 46 funerals are just good in her council because she's so invested in it and has a supportive council. I know of others which are not like she describes at all. I thus experienced first-hand the magic of the work that Evie King does. Evie King works for her local council and part of her job is to carry out funerals under Section 46. It is not a given that there are people available to organise a funeral after someone dies, but legally in the UK councils are responsible when no-one is available. People are not just thrown in a ditch and forgotten.

From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: Sometimes tragic, as with the case of an unidentified woman found on a beach buried without even a name, but often uplifting and occasionally hilarious. Ultimately, Evie discovers that her job is more about life than it is about death, funerals being for the living and death being merely a trigger to rediscover a life and celebrate it against the odds. This year Antique Beat and A Curious Invitation will be hosting The London Month of the Dead, a series of 36 different events investigating the capital’s relationship with its deceased residents. Events will include a private view of the Museum of London’s bone archive, taxidermy workshops, macabre walking tours and private views and a programme of weekend death salons with talks on subjects ranging from public dissection and body snatching to reincarnation and funereal folklore. Each salon will feature a pair of speakers, authorities in fields such as osteology, forensic pathology and the paranormal, who will offer their own perspectives and insights on mortality in the city. Money Matters Neurodiversity Preparing for University - Subject Reading Lists Reading For Pleasure StationeryEvery effort to admit latecomers will be made at a suitable break in the event, but admission cannot always be guaranteed. Ultimately, Evie discovers that her job is more about life than it is about death, funerals being for the living and death being merely a trigger to rediscover a life and celebrate it against the odds. Diane (Philomena Cunk) Morgan: "A fascinating, poignant, and funny insight into the slightly macabre world of a Council Funeral Officer."

It is incredibly uplifting to read the stories of people who, on the outset, look like they have nobody left in the world to care about them, transform into people with well-attended funerals which many might envy. That transformation is often the result of the work of a council worker like Evie in really caring about those who land in her work in-tray; researching, making phone calls, trawling social media and the deceased's home for clues as to who they are and the people who filled their universe in life. Ultimately, she will not only explain her role but she will seek to reframe how we view those who end up with what was once called a pauper's funeral, and in turn reframe how we think about our own endings. She also keenly wants to impart the need for preparation and expression of wishes. Hopefully you will leave ready to write your will and live your life out from under the weighty shadow of legacy.

Knowing absolutely zero about council funerals aside from the negative term 'a paupers funeral' the subject matter of this book caught my eye. Its not often people talk about a good death, planning your funeral or what happens when you cant afford to pay for a loved ones funeral. Evie King goes to great lengths to dispel any negative view points over what a section 46 funeral looks like and she goes even further to give the people handed into her care the kind of funeral we might all wish for. Not everyone who has their funeral carried out under Section 46 is alone or estranged, There will also be individuals with next of kin to mourn them, but who are unable to bear the costs of the arrangements due to financial hardship and the rising price of funerals.