Ashes To Admin: Tales from the Caseload of a Council Funeral Officer

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If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us As someone who works at a Council and studied death culture at university, it was probably inevitable that I would find Ashes to Admin immensely enjoyable. King talks about her early days in the job, and with each case, we see her expertise and knowledge developing and growing. She learns how to become immune to the "smell of death" to maggots in months'-old food and, in the process, realises that she possesses a talent for organising respectful funerals for the dispossessed dead. Evie's memoir of a life spent organising what were until recently still known as 'pauper's funerals' is by turns hilarious and heartfelt. It lifts the lid on the lives, and more importantly the deaths, of our country's forgotten people, dignifying them, and shaming our nation. It's a cliché, but I laughed and I cried and I realised I have wasted my life. A kind of campaigning journalism written in the witty and waspish tone of the funniest woman in the workplace, it should be essential reading for policy makers. I can't recommend this book enough. A Road To Wigan Pier for post-Brexit Britain. Poverty Porn in reverse, raising the spirits, dignifying the human experience, and demanding action'

We were up on the cliff edge on a stormy night, even though the weather would have been fine at the time of year she died, nice bit of pathetic fallacy from my subconscious there.” i bought this book on a complete whim, i’d seen an advert for it and thought it sounded interesting. i’m glad i did because it was such an insightful and emotional read. Evie King is the pen name of Christina Martin. She is a former stand up comedian and a part-time writer. She has always written short form pieces, in the margins of her various day jobs, contributing to New Humanist, Guardian Comment is Free, BBC Comedy and Viz Comic. Since moving to the seaside and going part-time she has had more time for writing which has accumulated in Ashes to Admin. Ashes to Admin’ lifts the coffin lid on those extraordinary personal stories that have been so often left unheard. King brings us face-to-face with these unusual circumstances that touch on life and death together in unexpected ways. From tragic stories like an unidentified woman found on a beach without even her name being recorded, to uplifting tales that illustrate the beauty of celebrating someone’s life against all odds; this remarkable book promises readers an insight into fulfilling a job they may not have heard of before. Ashes to Admin lifts the coffin lid on some moving and unexpected personal life stories. Sometimes tragic, as with the case of an unidentified woman found on a beach buried without even a name, but often uplifting and occasionally hilarious.What happens if you die without family or money? The answer to this very three-in-the-morning question is that Evie, or someone like her, will step in and arrange your funeral. the author is a fantastic narrator and the perfect person to guide us through this book, the emotional parts and the funny anecdotes too.

Evie is a local council worker charged with carrying out Section 46 funerals under the Public Health Act. Or to put it in less cold, legislative language; funerals for those with nobody around, willing or able to bury or cremate them. Diane (Philomena Cunk) Morgan: "A fascinating, poignant, and funny insight into the slightly macabre world of a Council Funeral Officer."

Best Books Set in the 1920s — from Stories That Shimmer with Champagne and Social Change, to Rip-roaring Reads Covering Crime, Colonialism and Beyond. Evie King is a local council worker charged with carrying out Section 46 funerals under the Public Health Act. Or to put it in less cold, legislative language; funerals for those with nobody around, willing or able to bury or cremate them. One thing I soon learned from reading this book is that Section 46 funerals are nothing like the dismal image of a pauper's funeral that I had in my head. If the deceased has left behind documentation relating to their wishes concerning their committal, those wishes will be carried out: if there's no such information, or the deceased's identity is unknown, they will still receive a dignified send-off. This year Antique Beat and A Curious Invitation will be hosting The London Month of the Dead, a series of 36 different events investigating the capital’s relationship with its deceased residents. Events will include a private view of the Museum of London’s bone archive, taxidermy workshops, macabre walking tours and private views and a programme of weekend death salons with talks on subjects ranging from public dissection and body snatching to reincarnation and funereal folklore. Each salon will feature a pair of speakers, authorities in fields such as osteology, forensic pathology and the paranormal, who will offer their own perspectives and insights on mortality in the city.

Ultimately, Evie discovers that her job is more about life than it is about death, funerals being for the living and death being merely a trigger to rediscover a life and celebrate it against the odds. Sometimes you just know that you are going to love a book from the first few sentences and that was absolutely the case with Ashes to Admin.

Imagine a life without the presence of family or friends; you sadly pass away alone and your life remains unrecognised, neglected as if never to be heard again. Thanks to Evie King an inspiring local council worker in charge of carrying out Section 46 funerals under the Public Health Act, these individuals’ lives are not forgotten (and other Council Funeral Officers of course!). Each chapter is a case referred to her. King writes with love and humour about the accompanying frustrations and emotions as she goes above and beyond to give everyone a dignified goodbye. To ensure no one is alone when they're buried or cremated and to bring the dead to life so that we know them and their story. We learn about the endless admin hoops King has to jump through. The strange practicalities. That death is of course not 9-5 so the work isn't either. That people can be awkward but also wonderful. And that everyone has a story. Reminiscent of Adam Kay but in a glorious world all of its own, this made me smile a lot and also cry.

In technical parlance, Evie is responsible for “Section 46 funerals under the Public Health Act”. In lay terms, that means arranging funerals for people who die alone, without family or friends to arrange a funeral. In her straight-talking, informative introduction, Evie explains the process: “when a person dies in these circumstances, I get a call, typically from a care home, or a coroner, less typically from a relative”. In Ashes to Admin, Evie King shares endlessly fascinating — and often unexpected — experiences from her job as a council funeral officer. A fascinating, poignant and FUNNY insight into the slightly macabre world of a council funeral officer’– Diane Morgan Imagine having that sentence said to you. And then imagine it actually being pertinent. Welcome to Evie King’s world.

She clearly cares for her 'clients' and represents an ideal of how such cases should be conducted. You can't fault her personal passion and commitment. King makes you consider the pros and cons of age. Referring to one of her people ‘ She had evidently, at 99 years old, outlived everyone. A downside to longevity that people sometimes don’t consider, and something that is striven for blindly in our life-at-all-costs culture.’ This really jumped out at me, as I often feel that people focus on lifespan and not the value and quality of life we have. There's plenty to learn in this gently uplifting book. Some of Evie King's cases will make you cry, others will make you angry, and some will make you smile - or even *laugh*. Above all, there's nothing morbid or depressing about this book - unless you count the behaviour and attitudes of some of the deceaseds' family members. Another criticism put forward by Woodthorpe is the notion of ‘loved ones’ - not everyone is loved and not everyone is on good terms with their so-called ‘loved ones’. This challenge is also present in Ashes to Admin, some people fall under Section 46 because they have fallen out with their ‘loved ones’. Evie King also struggles with her role and emotions in all of this. What is she supposed to feel, or not, in relation to the people she is organising funerals for? With every death some sort of relationship is formed, and some cases, like the burial of someone with learning difficulties, hit closer to home than others.