At Potter’s Field Funerals we believe in doing things differently. We believe that providing a funeral service is not purely a commercial exchange, it’s a community exchange.
Our core philosophy is simple; a belief that getting and giving can be one.
Born from this vision is a concept in funeral care set to revolutionise the Australian market; a commercial company providing traditional and contemporary funeral care, established solely to run as a social enterprise.
Created in conjunction with Bereavement Assistance Ltd, Potter’s Field Funerals will direct its profits into caring for the financially disadvantaged members of the Victorian community whom Bereavement Assistance has been supporting for the last 20 years.
This is how our concept of “Choosing is Giving” was born.
By choosing Potter’s Field as your funeral provider you will be assisting in the provision of funeral products and/or services to financially disadvantaged members of our community, who, without this support would be faced with the probability of incurring a crippling debt or as a last resort, a pauper’s funeral.
The final farewell of a loved one is a profound moment in anyone’s life; why not add to their legacy with one final gift.
Why Choose Potters Field?
By choosing Potter’s Field Funerals as your funeral service provider you are making a conscious choice to give back to your community. At Potter’s Field we believe that that giving and getting can be one. When you choose us to provide the final farewell for your loved one you are making a decision to give back to your community in a way that offers not only a monetary value, but a social value too. The ability to be able to provide a person with a dignified farewell is something that is not afforded to all in our community, and being such an integral part of the grief process, the inability to pay for such an important social and cultural ritual can have long lasting and harmful effects.
Whilst our service fees remain low we are still a commercial company so there is a small profit made from each funeral service we provide. These profits are then directed back to our charity Bereavement Assistance Ltd so as they can continue to provide at cost and charitable services to members of the Victorian community who are unable to afford commercial fees. Your money goes directly to help fund chapel space and time, celebrants and Ministers, funeral staff and cars, and items such as coffins, memorials books and flowers.
Without your help, Bereavement Assistance would not be able to continue to provide this support.
What is a social enterprise?
Social enterprises are businesses that trade to intentionally tackle social problems, improve communities, provide people access to employment and training, or help the environment.
Using the power of the marketplace to solve the most pressing societal problems, social enterprises are commercially viable businesses existing to benefit the public and the community, rather than shareholders and owners.
In the Australian context, there is no legal structure called social enterprise but we define social enterprise as organisations that:
- Are driven by a public or community cause, be it social, environmental, cultural or economic.
- Derive most of their income from trade, not donations or grants.
- Use the majority (at least 50%) of their profits to work towards their social mission.
(Definition via www.socialtraders.com.au)
