Celebrating Life with Warmth, Dignity and Compassion

About me

Like many celebrants, I was inspired by a Celebrant at a relative’s funeral to train as one myself.  I saw the possibilities of creating meaningful and personalised ways of saying goodbye to a loved one.

With a background in community arts and outreach work and having co-founded my own internationally successful training organisation, I have experience working with a wide variety of people from a range of communities, ages, ethnicities and abilities. It has also given me skills and experiences that I have now transferred to my practice as a Celebrant.

In my previous work, I also regularly organised very large and small intimate events in various settings, so my organisational skills are well honed.  I am confident and practised as a public speaker. I’m calm in a crisis.
Bringing people together to celebrate and express themselves creatively has always been at the heart of what I do. My counselling training has also been a big help in supporting families during difficult times.

I currently work part-time for an arts charity, managing a creative magazine for the cancer community. I’m passionate about helping people create ceremonies that comfort and ease the grieving process.

I love the outdoors; nature is a solace to me. I’m often found singing and swimming in cold water!  I would say I have a keen sense of spirituality. Still, I am not religious and passionate about helping people achieve a ceremony that gives comfort and eases the grieving process.

Ceremonies

I feel that a funeral or celebration of life is the last gift we give to those we leave behind by bringing people together for a shared experience.  That said, it is usually a very sad and challenging time for loved ones, and people experience grief in many different and sometimes surprising ways.

I support cremations, burials, memorials, and the scattering of ashes. While my practice is secular, I’m happy to include prayers or readings. I would be honoured to guide you through this journey with warmth and compassion.
I have no preconceived ideas about what or how you might want your ceremony to be, but I will listen carefully and help you create a funeral that honours and respects your loved one in the most unique way. I aim to provide you with a safe, structured process and environment which leaves you free to grieve as you need.

I can suggest and provide a structure if that is what’s needed or guide and support you in creating your own unique event. It could be outdoors on a hill, indoors at a bowling alley, in a traditional setting or your garden. It can be formal and full of gravitas or a fittingly eccentric tribute to someone who has had an unconventional life.

These days, there are many blended families, which can bring complexities to the situation, and sadly, death can also expose conflicts in families. I am experienced in mediating and negotiating the differing requests of family members and friends so that everyone feels they have been heard and the ceremony reflects what is needed for all concerned.

Some people have been well-known community members, which sometimes also needs to be considered; I am experienced in working with communities and addressing large groups of mourners.

Together, we’ll craft a ceremony that captures the stories, personality, and spirit of your loved one, offering comfort and closure.

• Introductory music
• Words of welcome
• Thoughts on life and death
• Tributes/memories/reflections on the life of your loved one
• Readings: poetry and/or prose
• Moment of reflection: a few minutes to listen to music or sit in silence
• Final farewell
• Closing words
• Closing music.

These are some things you might find helpful to think about in relation to the person who has died in preparation for the initial meeting.

• Place of birth
• Family members
• Closest friends
• School days
• Working life
• Interests and achievements
• Favourite memories
• Sayings and anecdotes

After our meeting, I put together a draft script of everything I am proposing to say, including readings from family and friends. I then forward it to you and those speaking to agree on a final version.

Also, if you are having an order of service, I will forward the relevant information to the funeral director/printer, who will produce a proof for you to review before it goes to print.

After the ceremony

I will send you, via email and/or in the post, a final copy of the script.

Fees/expenses and Geographic Range

• For a ceremony of up to 30 minutes: £300 inclusive;
• For up to any additional 1/2 hour: £50 inclusive;
• For an additional Family Meeting: £50 inclusive;
• For travel outside Bristol, mileage is charged at 45p per mile.
• I work in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, within a twenty-five-mile radius of Bristol.

FAQs

Planning a funeral or memorial can be overwhelming. Here are some common questions people ask:

Testimonials

The following testimonials are from families I have worked with who have kindly agreed that I may share their (mostly anonymised) feedback.

Areas we cover would be:

• The type of ceremony you would like (burial/cremation)
• Formal, informal, gravitas  or, humorous or both
• Where you would like the ceremony to be held, in a chapel of rest/ crematorium or outdoors in a favourite place of yours
• Who you would like to attend;
• Any music you might like included and the reason for your choice/s;
• Any readings/poetry and the reason for your choice/s;
• If you would like to write something to be read out at your ceremony,
• Who you might like to do a reading/read a poem and/or write a tribute;
• Details of any significant family members;
• Who would you like to give permission to have access to your wishes after your death?

 Please contact me to discuss workshop fees.

.

Privacy

In the course of my business as a celebrant, I am fully committed to compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 and any successor legislation, as well as protecting the rights and freedoms of individuals with respect to the processing of their personal data.

I will inevitably collect data about the person who has died, the lives of people close to them, and the people that I need to communicate with in the planning of the ceremony. Data will include but not be limited to names, phone numbers, email and street addresses, information about where and when people were born, lived, worked, and extensive personal details of their lives, the lives of their friends and families and of any individuals who are involved in the ceremony, whether directly or indirectly. 

The data will only be used to create and deliver the ceremony. This may include administrative purposes such as booking, billing, and organising aspects of the ceremony, but it will centre on writing the script for the ceremony itself.
The data won’t be shared with anyone other than the client, and, if requested & with the client’s permission, the funeral directors, printers, orders of service and other relevant professionals.

I will ask for your permission to include photographs on my website, which will destroy hard copy information within three months of the delivery of the ceremony.
If a client requests me to destroy any personal information I hold at any time, I will do so upon receipt of written notice from the client.