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In Celebration of
October 24, 2021
Britain’s cities need more black undertakers
There are about 7,000 undertakers’ businesses in the UK and almost certainly fewer than 1% of those are black. Working in the profession as we have done for some years at www.integrityfuneralcare.co.uk, we are actually only aware of nine other companies in England. It’s time our industry campaigned to increase those numbers, for the good of the people we serve.
You might ask, why does this matter? This month is Black History Month, and it is precisely because of our differing history and tradition that this is so important.
As someone who has (prior to joining the profession) experienced the services available on the High Street, we can say with conviction that there is a tendency to a lack of understanding of the cultural and community needs of black people when using the services of a funeral director. Our communities are used to longer church services and time spent at the graveside with much more music and speech than is the norm in the wider population. We tend to have greater family involvement in the build-up to the actual funeral – for example Nine Night celebrations where relatives and friends of the deceased come together to sing and talk and commemorate everything they meant to us. The time between death and burial or cremation tends to be several weeks longer – often to allow family members spread all over the world to come together for the event.
It would be unreasonable to expect the profession as a whole to understand all this and to be able to respond accordingly. We who have grown up with it appreciate its significance. It is part of who we are.
13% of the UK population is from a non-white background, but in London, where we live and work, for example, that figure is closer to 40%. When those people lose a loved one, the vast majority of them will receive a service from our industry which is alien to them. People are at their weakest in these times and often get carried along with the flow of whatever’s suggested to them by a professional. The professionals themselves are doing their best, but they have insufficient understanding of what matters to black families to provide the care and the memories those clients deserve.
We hear all the time about the greater need for diversity in so many different industries and professions, but ours is a business nobody, apart from us, ever talks about. Now is the time to reach out to young people from ethic communities to encourage them to consider a career as a funeral director, to let them know how rewarding such service can be, and to better look after the needs of all the people of this country, regardless of their heritage.
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Head Office:
Integrity Funeral Care Limited
71 – 75 Shelton Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2H 9JQ
Branches in:
Hackney, London
Bromley, London
Hayes, Middlesex
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