Funerals

 

The death of someone close to us is always an intensely private affair, and it is very difficult to find the right words to use, particularly at such a sad and difficult time.

A humanist funeral provides the opportunity for a personal farewell, with the tributes, poems, and readings specially written or chosen for the occasion. I am happy to write much of the ceremony, based on all the information that I learn from you, or, if you prefer to write parts of it yourself, I can help you deliver it in a way that fully celebrates the life of the one you have lost. The ceremony won’t include anything you don’t want, and it can be as grand or as simple as you wis

I always visit families at home in order to learn about the person who has died, and to plan the funeral. I write a draft funeral script based on everything we have discussed, and then spend time finalizing this with the family to get it absolutely right for them. This can take quite some time, but it is very important to get it right. It is a real privilege to be of service at what is a very important time in people’s lives.

From time to time I am asked to see people before they die to help them think about the kind of ceremony they want: it is never an easy conversation to have, but it can be very helpful, both for those approaching their death, and for those closest to them. It is an honour to be able to do this for someone as they face the end of their life.

TESTIMONIALS

“Thank you so much for taking Mum’s funeral. It can’t have been easy for you to organise the service remotely with the four of us and then to have the additional challenge of Covid restrictions etc. Thank you for all your efforts and for taking on the burden of ensuring everything came together on the day. I’m so grateful for the sensitive way you worked with our family to ensure that the service reflected what we wanted for mum and what we needed for ourselves. I’m glad that we all managed to contribute in our own way on the day. I thought your careful chosen words were just right for Mum, and your closing words were particularly moving.” Jo for MO

” Alison, thank you so much for yesterday, it was a lovely service, and those who logged into the webcast also expressed their thanks. Thank you for giving us a framework on which to express our thoughts and feelings about M and his life story, and for your delivering those reminiscences so movingly. Thank you for your kindness, help and support.” HO’D for MO’D

‘Alison, I want to thank you for yesterday. You hit just the right notes in your presentation of my Mum’s life and personality, and everyone afterwards said how lovely it was and how perfectly the whole service reflected her. Thank you for your empathy, kindness and understanding at this difficult time.’ RA. Ceremony for EA

‘I just wanted to thank you so much for such a lovely lovely service yesterday. Everyone loved it and commented on how much B would have loved it….it really suited her. You made a difficult task so very much easier. Thank you. ”  TL: Ceremony for BL

‘Alison, I just wanted to drop you a line to thank you so much for making the ceremony on Friday so special. I feel it was a true celebration of M’s life. So many have said things like, ‘I hope this doesn’t sound inappropriate, but that was the best funeral I’ve ever been to!’ They remarked not only on the content, but also on the way you conducted the ceremony – the delivery, the tone, the light and shade, the humour…’ PF. Ceremony for MF