Tag: funeral costs

Can you help plan a fake funeral? Prankster looking to arrange his own funeral

It’s a very unusual request, but we’re hoping that we can find a team of service professionals that can help a young man on his latest mission. Have you seen that episode of Friends with Ross’ funeral, you know The One Where No One Dies?

Inspired by that episode of Friends, the young man has emailed Bark.com requesting help with hosting his own funeral, but the twist is, he’s very much alive and well. Being known as the joker in his friendship group and feeling fed up at how little men talk to each other on a personal level, the man who sent the request is hoping his latest ruse can make a difference.

The Friends fan has saved up £5,000 to make his stunt a reality.

The request stated:

“‘Hi, I’m emailing as I added a job to your site recently but have had no response, I was hoping customer services might be able to help me. I am looking for someone to help me and my best mate to hold my funeral for me. 

I’ve always been the joker of the pack and think it would be hilarious to invite my mates to come along, just like that episode of Friends where they pretend that Ross is dead.

I’ve always wondered what my own funeral would be like, and if I’m honest, I’d like a few nice things said about me. Blokes are just too scared to talk, stiff upper lip and all that. I’m hoping that instead of people buying flowers, maybe people can donate to a mental health charity. I want my mates to know that it’s not soft to chat about stuff and I want to know they’ve got my back as much as I have theirs.

In regard to the funeral, I’d like some help getting the message out on social media, I need somewhere to host it, some catering for my wake and an actor who can be a priest on the day.

Not to go into too much detail, but I’ve come in to a bit of money recently, so I’ve got about £5k to spend.

Anyway, do you reckon you could help me find someone to help me out?

Cheers,

[redacted]”

If you think you can help this man out, register your services and apply here.

Bark.com co-founder, Kai Feller said,

“This is certainly an unusual request. We really do pride ourselves in being able to give people what they want and need and if this is it, then so be it! I hope the young chap gets the reaction he hopes for from his friends and that his acting isn’t too convincing!”

“I know that this chap can get everything he needs on our platform, but juggling events like this can be difficult, especially when it needs to be done in secret! His point about men being reluctant to really speak together is an important one too – I’m glad there’ll be an important issue discussed by his ruse.”

West Midlands revealed as the most expensive area in the UK to have a funeral

Thousands of people have to organise a funeral every year in the UK, and for most it’s a stressful enough time without the various costs associated with saying goodbye to a loved one. In fact a report found that from 2004 to 2017, funeral costs increased by a staggering 112%, more than house prices, weekly wages and petrol*.  

Understandably, ‘funeral poverty’ has been widely discussed in the news, and the Scottish government has even introduced a new fund to help low income families with funeral costs, available as of next week. To shed some more light on the cost of funerals, we looked at more than 500,000 funeral service prices across the UK from 2015, to find out what the average cost is depending on where you are in the UK. 

Our research delved into prices from a multitude of services needed for organising a funeral or wake, such as; hearse and car hire, funeral director costs, solicitors fees, coffin costs, catering, florists, gravestone engraving, and venue hire. We did not take into account burial plot costs. 

We weren’t sure what to expect from our analysis, however, were surprised to find out that prices vary massively depending on where in the country you are. West Midlands was revealed as the most expensive place in the UK to have a funeral, followed by Greater London and Hampshire. Yorkshire was revealed as the cheapest, followed by Lancashire and Cornwall.

The ten most expensive counties in the UK to hold a funeral, along with the average cost, are as follows:

  1. West Midlands – £6,450
  2. Greater London – £6,200
  3. Hampshire – £5,803
  4. Surrey – £5,575
  5. Cambridgeshire – £5,300
  6. Bedfordshire – £5,235
  7. Midlothian – £5,182
  8. Gloucestershire – £4,975
  9. Cumbria – £4,950
  10. Pembrokeshire – £4,711

The ten cheapest counties in the UK to hold a funeral, along with the average cost, are as follows:

  1. Yorkshire – £2,768
  2. Lancashire – £2,732
  3. Cornwall – £2,945
  4. Cheshire – £2,970
  5. Aberdeenshire – £3,010
  6. Middlesex – £3,450
  7. Northumberland – £3,605
  8. Isle of Wight – £3,789
  9. Suffolk – £3,795
  10. Lincolnshire – £3,804

Kai Feller, Bark.com co-founder, said,

“Having to organise a funeral is never going to be a nice job, and for many across the UK finding the funds to do so can be extremely stressful – particularly when you’re grieving. So, we wanted to highlight the varying costs across the UK, so people are aware how much a funeral will likely set them back depending on their location.”

Source:

*https://www.sunlife.co.uk/siteassets/documents/cost-of-dying/cost-of-dying-2017.pdf