1 minute read
DMAG Study Day charts course for future collaboration
The Deceased Management Advisory Group (DMAG) held a Policy Study Day at the NAFD’s offices in Solihull.
DMAG comprises seven organisations representing the funerals sector - the National Association of Funeral Directors, the Society of Allied and independent Funeral Directors, The Cremation Society, the Funeral Suppliers’ Association, the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management, the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities and the Association of Private Cemeteries and Crematoria.
Advertisement
Attending the meeting were Brendan Day (FBCA), Julie Dunk (ICCM), Alun Tucker (FSA), Jon Levett (NAFD), Wendy Bray (Cremation Society), Richard Barradell (APCC) and Terry Tennens (SAIF). The purpose of the study day was to discuss the future of DMAG and its priorities post the COVID-19 pandemic, which had first prompted its establishment in April 2020. There was a commitment from all seven organisations to keep DMAG, and its spirit of partnership working, going – which saw it win the Best Collaboration Award at the 2021 Association Excellence Awards.
DMAG considered a long list of projects where there was a common interest across DMAG’s constituent organisations, including the introduction of the statutory medical examiner system, the re-use of graves, the Fuller Inquiry and the Public Inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic.
DMAG invited Professor Lucy Easthope, a leading authority on disaster response and recovery, to part of its meeting. Professor Easthope, who has publicly praised DMAG’s work during the pandemic, advised DMAG on its application for Core Participant Status in the COVID-19 Inquiry DMAG also discussed how it could further involve bodies such as the British Institute of Funeral Directors, the British Institute of Embalmers and celebrant organisations into its work, and resolved to hold six-monthly stakeholder meetings, the first of which will be held in early 2023.
Find out more about DMAG on its website: www.DMAG2020.org.uk.
Liza
Would like to thank you all for your support throughout 2022 and wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2023.