Karen Blue, from the family owned Penrose Funerals of Grenfell NSW, also with premises in Young NSW, will attend the world’s largest funeral industry trade show in Boston in October, after winning the 2017 Australian Funeral Director’s Association (AFDA) National Scholarship.

Judges in the scholarship were impressed by Karen’s ingenious and fresh consideration of the future of funerals and what this might look like for the families we serve.

Her presentation argued that changes in technology, combined with a shift for more non-conventional funerals, means that Funeral Directors need to be better able to appreciate where families are coming from.

“Personalising the farewell makes it more meaningful for those left behind and really helps in the grieving process.

“Families need to feel empowered when arranging funerals and to guide them, we need a sound understanding of what is important to them.”

“I believe that funeral services in the future will become even more individual. We will see services held in a variety of places and for some families, technology will be heavily involved.

“For example, if a family member is unable to attend a funeral, the service may be live streamed,” she said.

McCrindle Research conducted a nationwide survey on behalf of AFDA and found that 72% of women and 55% of men think personalising a funeral is very important.

Some 6,000 delegates will attend the Boston trade show, sharing insights and developments in the funeral industry.

The AFDA scholarship is offered every two years and is sponsored by Forester’s Friendly Society.

On behalf of the Weddin Shire community we congratulate Karen on this outstanding achievement.

For more information about AFDA and the scholarship program visit http://www.afda.org.au