FINAL FLING

SPIRITED, CREATIVE, PRAGMATIC… A FRESH APPROACH TO LIFE AND DEATH DECISIONS

The backstory

My auntie Nellie’s funeral was a disappointment. They called her Helen. I didn’t even know that was her name. Her tribute was lacklustre. She never was. She deserved better. Some years later, after another bad funeral, I realised that I had to be the change I wanted to see in the world. In 2010 I bought the domain Final Fling and started innovating. In 2012 I launched the world’s first platform for end of life planning. It won national awards and I ran the service for a decade.

Over those years I trained to be a Humanist celebrant and funeral director. I wanted to have more influence and impact at the time of need to offer others agency and control over big life decisions.

I founded the Scottish Humanist charity, A Quiet Revolution and trained a network of diverse celebrants to conduct funerals, memorials, legal weddings and baby-namings. We aim to help change the world… one act of human kindness at a time.

I continue to lead ceremonies though I have handed over the reins of the charity to my Quiet Revolutionaries.

End of life innovation

My passion for doing death differently kicked off in 2010 after Auntie Nellie’s funeral. It took me 2 years to design, develop and launch this, the first platform for end of life planning. I even went on Dragon’s Den for launch publicity.

Immediately on launch, Final Fling was 5-star rated by Web User Magazine, winning the accolade Best New Website up against giant brands. At that year’s Good Funeral Awards, I won the award: Most Outstanding Contribution to Understanding Death.

I went on to launch and host Scotland’s first Death Cafes, ran a symposium called Design for Death for charity and health sectors with Lauren Currie, produced Scotland’s first Day of the Dead Festival and over the coming years ran workshops and events across the UK for national programmes like Dying Matters Week and Absent Friends Festival and spoke at the Cheltenham Book Festival and many other events.

A 10 year mission

Putting ‘rich’ into ritual

Over the decade, thousands of people set up free accounts on Final Fling to stay in control - right to the end. A suite of Life Planning Tools enabled users to save and share Funeral Wishes, Bucket List ideas, store digital legacies like photos and home movies in the Memory Box and share key documents securely in the Safe Deposit Box. My vision was to help put ‘rich’ into ritual so I linked to all sorts of great models for change through listings and blogs.

I realised I wanted to be more hands on in delivering good funerals. In 2013 I did courses in Care of the Body and Funeral Arranging with Green Fuse, field leaders. In 2014, I trained as a Humanist celebrant. In 2016 I co-founded the Scottish charity A Quiet Revolution to promote richer ceremonies for less cost. In 2016/17 I studied for a Masters in Design Innovation. In 2020 I completed Funeral Director training and launched a consultancy, Only Human, providing a fresh take on funeral services.

Funeral mastery

In 2016, I did a Masters in Design Innovation at the prestigious Glasgow School of Art. My work on 21st Century Funerals was multi-award winning. I gained a Distinction and was awarded the Chairman’s Medal for Innovation. I was thrilled to be first to receive the Innovation School’s inaugural Innovation by Design prize for my use of design in creating engagement tools. My engagement spanned workshops with professionals in the care sector; ethnographic research with individuals and I worked in funeral parlours behind the scenes and supporting at funerals. Hundreds of people came along to learn more about funerals, our social construct, options and share their views at an exhibition at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). My award-winning design solution envisioned transformational change that could end funeral poverty, boost citizen confidence around funeral decisions, provide a social leveller to tackle funeral poverty and help individuals achieve agency and choice.

The legacy lives on

Celebrating the ordinary and extraordinary thing that is living and dying through events, workshops, death cafes, photos, stories, films…

Final Fling started with an Abbey Road style launch to signal its spirited vibe. No fluffy clouds and euphemisms. We talk openly about life and death. Our house style was photos and stories of real people and their ordinary and extraordinary lives. I linked with other thought-leaders in the ‘death positive movement’ across the world - people working hard to change end of life experience. The gallery below gives a sense of some of the happenings over Final Fling’s 10 years.

(See numbered list below to explain each pic.)