Funerals

As part of our collaboration with the Co-operative Group, we have developed a pilot project with Funeral care.

Funerals are a major cost for families in South Africa, as in many other African countries, where there is an expectation that the “send off” should be prestigious. Mutual burial societies have been in existence for many years in South Africa to help families meet funeral costs, but the impact of HIV/AIDS has put a strain upon the system. In any case, the benefits paid out by the burial societies do not meet in many cases the full cost of a funeral.

The project is researching funeral provision in two Johannesburg townships (Ivory Park and Soweto) to identify if a co-operative funeral business could help in reducing costs to families of the bereaved. The initial research does show that the industry, which is very unregulated, is overcharging.

Later in 2010, a small group will travel from Africa to the UK to study the Funeral care operation, and later experts from Funeral care will travel to Johannesburg to advise on the practicalities of setting up a co-operative funeral business.

This project has been made possible by a generous donation from the Co-operative Enterprise Hub.