Southern District
Area covered
The London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston-upon-Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton, Wandsworth and the surrounding areas including north Surrey.
Who should attend
Anyone within the funeral profession – owners, managers and funeral directors, funeral arrangers, administrators – or connected thereto e.g. crematoria, cemeteries, nursing homes, mortuaries, registrars.
Frequency of meetings
Meetings are held quarterly at The Hallmark Hotel, 680 Purley Way, Croydon CR9 4LT on Monday evenings and are followed by supper.
Recent topics have included the operation of a cemetery & memorial gardens, the history of embalming, GDPR and the new FFMA testing protocol.
If you are interested in joining the Association, would like to learn more about it, or are keen to become involved on the Committee, please contact the officers.
Contact details
Email address for the Officers : lafdsouthern@outlook.com
The District Committee is chaired by Emily Sharma;
Vice-chairman – Tony Pearson
Secretary – Frank Meilack
Treasurer – Barbara Ward
Members’ suggestions for future activities are invited.
Next meeting – Monday 23rd July 2018
6.45pm at The Hallmark Hotel, 680 Purley Way, Croydon CR9 4LT.
Speaker: Howard Pickard, Managing Director, Resomation LBBC, will explain “water cremation”
The meeting will be followed by a buffet supper
There is no charge for the evening, but numbers are needed for catering purposes
To reserve your place, please email the Committee lafdsouthern@outlook.com
Meeting reports
Monday 30th April 2018 – AGM
New London Association President, Richard van Nes, was delighted to be invited to attend the Southern District Association’s AGM and to welcome its newly elected officers.
Retiring Chairman Ben Walkling was thanked warmly for his service during the past two years.
Despite then being a recent recruit to the Committee, Ben had picked up the chain of office when the previous Chairman relocated away from the area and had done a sterling job keeping the District organisation flourishing.
New Chair Emily Sharma informed the meeting that the Committee’s focus for the year will be on growing the membership and improving communication and engagement with members across the District.
To this end, she announced the creation of a new, dedicated email address for the District Committee (see above).
The meeting welcomed Dr Chris Rose and Mr Alex Keen, of Ascension Flights, who gave a fascinating presentation, which was very well received.
As is customary, attendees enjoyed a convivial supper to complete the evening.
Monday 29th January 2018
The well attended meeting was pleased to welcome guest speaker Simon Allen, who gave a timely, informative presentation on the new General Data Protection Regulations, being introduced in May.
The evening also included the customary supper.
Monday 16th January 2017
District Chairman Ben welcomes NAFD President Jeremy Field
The meeting was attended by a good mix of people from a variety of funeral services.
Those present enjoyed an interesting presentation from a carriage master and a lively debate covering diverse matters, such as the Social Fund, Coroner services and an update on ME Implementation in England.
The enjoyable evening concluded with a hot buffet supper.