At an awards ceremony held in Warwickshire on 29th September 2009 Dignity was crowned national winner of Category F – Pet Cemeteries and Crematoria as part of the twelfth annual Cemetery of the Year Awards (CYA).
All sites participating in the CYA 2009 were assessed on a range of criteria including customer service, maintenance, design, facilities, freedom of memorial choice and involvement with their local communities. Over the summer months, the appointed CYA judges travelled across the nation in search of the best of the best. The CYA aims to reward high standards in the nation’s burial grounds and encourage choice for the bereaved; it is a nation wide competition for cemeteries, crematoria, green and pet cremation & burial sites.
Kevin Spurgeon says:
"We are all delighted to be crowned winners especially as we came so close last year! It's a very prestigious event and what makes it so special is that we were up against such strong competition and won it on the quality of our service as well as our beautifully kept memorial gardens.
As a director of the APPCC (Association of Private Pet Cemeteries & Crematoria) I have been involved in supporting the two families in Nottingham where the trust of several pet owners has been abused by a company that has the nerve to call themselves a "pet crematorium". I hope our success will remind pet lovers that there are genuine, compassionate and professionally run pet crematoria out there."
Barry Spurgeon, Kevin's father and founder of Dignity said,“We are so pleased to won this award. Everyone who works here gives so much of themselves on a daily basis and it's wonderful that our commitment to providing a first class service has been recognised at such a prestigious event. We are all over the moon!."
CYA Awards Administrator Elisabeth Edvardsen says, “The Cemetery of the Year Awards endeavours to increase public awareness of the importance burial sites can play within their communities. It is our aim to give our nation’s burial sites, and the people who ensure they are kept in good condition, the recognition they deserve – celebrating those sites that make a valuable contribution to their local area. We were very impressed with the high quality of applicants received this year and would like to congratulate all winners!”
The highly prestigious awards ceremony was held on Tuesday 30th September at the Chesford Grange Hotel in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Barry and daughter Debbie, a partner in the business, were at the awards ceremony and received a commemorative plaque (right).
Barry said, “We are so pleased to receive an award that recognises our commitment to excellence. Given that we only inter ashes at Dignity and were up against several established cemeteries we have done tremendously well! We have achieved so much here in a relatively short space of time, especially given the amount of changes in legislation and licensing that we have had to cope with. I am so proud of what we have created here as a family and we will certainly be back next year to have another go at the title. We have to give our very special thanks to Maurice (a local gardener from Hartley Wintney) who maintains the gardens for us. We feel that the effort and care he takes in his work here has been recognised by this award.”
Awards Administrator Maria Jose Ovalle said, "The Cemetery of the Year Awards aim to give our national burial grounds, and the people who care for them, the recognition they deserve. The purpose of the Awards is to set standards for excellence and reward those sites that make a valuable and recognisable contribution to their community. We were extremely impressed with the high quality and volume of the applicants received this year – and we congratulate all of our winners!"
Most heartening to us were the judges comments.
