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One of Australia’s first NFP funeral homes opens its doors

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Confronted with a $10,000 bill for her mother’s funeral during a moment of immense grief, Jenny Briscoe-Hough decided to turn the industry on its head.

The former Ronald McDonald House and CanTeen manager said she was completely unprepared for the funeral organisation process and “horrified” at the cost.

“We already owned the burial plot, I did the eulogy and we washed and dressed our mother,” she said.

“The funeral directors put their advertising on my mother’s own memorial card. So I just had the question: What am I paying for?”

Briscoe-Hough on Wednesday opened one of Australia’s first not-for-profit funeral services, based in NSW’s Illawarra, to ease the financial and emotional toll of end-of-life care on families and friends.

Tender Funerals is a long-running initiative of the Port Kembla Community Project and is housed in one of Wollongong’s former fire stations.

It offers low-cost funerals, home-based ceremonies, cremation, burials and palliative care workshops.

The “completely sustainable” business model uses profits to pay bills and building costs rather than shareholders, Briscoe-Hough said.

The community-run organisation’s morgue, van and full-time funeral director were financed by more than $700,000 in crowdfunding, state government funds, grants and loans.

Briscoe-Hough said donations flooded in after Lynette Wallworth’s AACTA Award-winning documentary on the project, Tender, from which the business got its name.

She said Tender caters for customers Sydney, the Southern Highlands and Nowra and removes the mystery surrounding funerals by providing upfront costs and transparent information.

“If they want a $4000 coffin and all the bells and whistles, we can do that,” she said.

“It’s about empowering people and including them in the process. If they want to wash and dress the person with us, they can, and if they want keep the person at home for a few days, we’ve got a cool plate.”

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission lists basic cremation at $4000 and a more elaborate casket, burial and flowers at 14,000.

“There is not a mother on the planet who wants their children to spend a lot of money on their funeral. That is an unhealthy culture,” Briscoe-Hough said.

“A healthy culture is about well-being, people feeling like they’ve done everything they can for the person they love but they haven’t had to go into debt to get it.”

Briscoe-Hough said she’d love Tender to become a brand available in every Australian community.

“We want people’s default position to be they know what they’re going to do,” she said.

“The more that it’s not mysterious, the better.”

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