I am frequently humbled and moved by the responses I have received.

2023

Dear Clare,
I was more than happy with yesterday – relieved, pleased and very comforted that everything went so well.

The minor technical problems were irrelevant to the success of the occasion, but may I say that I admired the aplomb with which you managed those little difficulties! – as well as your warm and very professional conduct of the ceremony as a whole.

There was loads of good feedback from attendees afterwards, and everyone felt that you did vivid and accurate justice to Mum. It meant a great deal to us all.
So you have helped to bring comfort and a sense of a dignified and proper ending for everyone there, as well as for the immediate family. I’m not sure how you have managed to absorb not just so much information in the production of the script, but also the essence of Mum’s personality and the ethos of the family culture which she did so much to cultivate.

I shall be delighted to give feedback to the Humanists UK.

It has been a great pleasure to meet you; and thank you so much for the very valuable service you have afforded us.

Kind regards and very best wishes, S

Clare was remarkable. I really had to be persuaded that we needed a celebrant, but Clare really impressed us. She was both sensitive and sensible – a tricky think to achieve when working with those who are sick with grief. I can and will recommend her heartily.

We are incredibly grateful to Clare for guiding us through the difficult process of finding the right way to celebrate our mum’s life. Clare visited us at my parent’s home and spent far longer than expected with us, listening to our stories in order to understand who my mum was. She was so patient with us and so generous with her time. Clare helped us to shape the service, gently preparing us and advising us without ever taking the ownership away from us. We received so many lovely comments about the service. Our dad was very moved and very proud, he couldn’t bring himself to think about the funeral beforehand but we hope that the lovely portrait of my mum that Clare helped us paint will help him move forward in his grief.
We are so very glad that we chose Clare to act as our celebrant, the service was exactly what we wanted it to be and we most certainly could not have done it without her. I find it very comforting to think that my Mum would have thoroughly approved.

Clare took the time to get all the background history of H to let all attending know about H’s interesting life.

Clare was brilliant! She took so much away from our Zoom meeting and really got the essence of my Mum. She was meticulous in all the details . And was so easy to talk to. This was first time organising a funeral and delivering a Eulogy and Clare gave me so much assistance. I will never forget her kindness .

Clare very professional and an immense help, put me at ease and delivered a beautiful service which many people commented on.

Dear Clare

Sending you a big thank you for taking our Dad’s funeral service.
We all thought our Dad’s funeral went really well and it was lovely! The sun was out, birds was singing and it was just so lovely but sad.
We really appreciate you reading our memories out of our dad and you gave us a lovely idea with scattering petals over the coffin.
With rose petals, rosemary and Lavender which smelled lovely.
What a lovely memorable time for us, which will be in our thoughts for the rest of our lives. P

Thanks again for your role and input for the funeral, it was much appreciated. R

I just wanted to drop you an email to say thank you very much for the lovely service on Friday for my mum. The sun was shining and it was everything that mum would have wanted and would be smiling down on us all. D

Dear Clare
I would like to echo my brother’s comments and gratitude and also Thank you for your support and understanding during such a sad and difficult time. L

Dear Clare
Many many thanks again for conducting such a lovely ceremony and for doing us proud!
I love the cover banner.
When I have a little more time next week I will definitely leave some very positive feedback.
All the very best with your exceptionally busy week ahead.
Kindest Regards M

And texts and WhatsApps:
Thank you for u done Friday evey one said what lovely up beat service it was she didn’t want doom and gloom P

2021

Clare, thank you so much for speaking so beautifully and holding J’s service for us.

Dear Clare, this is just to say a very big thank you for all you have done. Everyone said what a moving and perfect ceremony it was and this is thanks to you for guiding us through it. I know you would have liked T and he would have liked you. (woodland burial).

Please accept our thanks for doing such a wonderful job, you picked up the “thread” so well. The rudder that helped us traverse the rapids – you have a very special gift.

Clare, thank you. From the time we first met I felt a load lifted from my shoulders. I had someone to share the “burden” but before long you had everything organised. Several people commented on the way the service was conducted, you have quite a few admirers. I look forward to receiving the script, I was so distressed I only heard snatches of what you, A and V said, but everyone told me how moving everything was. P

Clare, a heartfelt Thank you. From W&E families

Good morning Clare, R and I would both like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your truly heartfelt deliverance of mums script.
Everyone commented on how wonderful you were, and some thought you were a friend of mums. We can’t thank you enough for supporting us and really making it so moving and beautiful. We couldn’t possibly imagine it being any more perfect. 💕
J & R xx

Hi Clare & Amanda

I wanted to say thank you for making Dad’s funeral a lovely occasion. 

Clare: I thought your delivery was just right and the essence of Dad was put over with great sensitivity. The music worked better than I could ever have hoped!

Amanda: the crew from Hyde were superb from start to finish. The kindness shown to us up to and on the day made the challenge surmountable

I hope we don’t need your services again for many years!

Kind regards

Hello Clare,

Thank you for your email, yes life feels a bit flat and strange at the moment.

The service was lovely, very ‘C’ and I was extremely pleased with it, I have felt a sense of peace and contentment from it.

I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart, for all you time and effort. You did an amazing job of making it very personal and fitting for his memory.  I am very pleased that his memory will live on …

Thank you once again for everything, including the script.

Dear Clare,

It has been a week now since Mum’s funeral and although still raw, it has given us time to reflect.

We wish to thank you for putting mum’s service together and delivering it so professionally.  Your empathy and patience with us was most appreciated at our hour of need.

It was comforting to know that the service part of the funeral arrangements for mum was in capable hands and that you communicated with all three of us throughout the procedure.  We were grateful for your support and thank you very much.

Kind regards, C

Thank you for the service that you performed today for my mum, the tone was just right and everyone I spoke to mentioned how lovely it was.

Several people have asked if they could get a copy of the script you used. I was wondering if it is possible to have a copy to forward to them please?

Clare was fantastic throughout, from meeting the family to delivering a lovely funeral ceremony that was a celebration of my mother’s life. She was sympathetic and sensitive at this difficult time and was a great help in all aspects of planning and delivering a heartfelt service. Clare’s communication was exceptional and kept us informed of her script, the order of service and other requirements such as music and a slideshow. Clare also gathered information and stories about my mother from various members of my family and condensed them into a fitting tribute to my mum’s life that everyone said was perfect. I would highly recommend Clare to anyone considering a humanist ceremony.

“Thank you so much for the truly beautiful service today. I had several tears in my eyes throughout; you illuminated her life and helped us all see a person we never knew previously.
We certainly made it special for her in these difficult times.” E

“Thank you so much for sending the presentation script.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for delivering a most beautiful service for my love, [J]. Having you translate parts into French was so special and although I knew this was of course happening, when you spoke in French, it knocked me for six at how wonderful it was that we found you and what it would’ve meant to him.
I tried to take in as much as I could, trying to listen to every word that was spoken and to every piece of music that was played for him. It came together so beautifully.
Thank you for being a beacon of strength and leading me through the darkest few weeks of my life, with kindness and understanding. I will be forever grateful. I am just sorry that I was not able to give you a big hug on Friday.” N

“Thank you so much for all your hard work and kind words in helping with my dad’s funeral. Sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye and thank you in person after.
It was a lovely service and I’m very glad we booked a double slot!
I have had lots of emails from people watching through the internet also saying how lovely it was and they were also crying and laughing.” J

“I just wanted to write and say thank you so much for all your work for the funeral service for my father.
You managed the service itself and all the ‘interested parties’ brilliantly and helped us put together a fantastic service for him.” P

“Thank you for your time on Zoom the other day. I found it really helpful to talk through the day with you and found you very supportive and reassuring throughout.” Mel

“Thank you Clare they love the new bit (of the script) so that’s what they would like. see you Friday thank you for all your help.” S

2020

Here is a letter I received on 11th May and that I reproduce below. It justifies my feeling that choosing to be a Humanist celebrant is a vocation in the truest sense.

“Dear Clare

Just a line to say how pleased my family and I were that we asked for you to conduct the service for our “K” s funeral. The feeling and care that you put in the service was so comforting for us all and long may your wonderful healing work continue, thank you, kindest regards.” Family P.

“The script is perfect!” SP

“Thank you so much. Your script will be a comforting memento of the beautiful service – we couldn’t have wished for a more personal and sensitive presentation.” Family W

“Thanks once again for all your research, kindness and support” Family W

“thank you for today,Clare it was beautiful and you did an amazing job, many thanks,” CS

“Clare is professional, confident and understanding, we would recommend her to any of our professional colleagues”  AO (Funeral arranger)

“thank you for the lovely words you said about Mum yesterday, you got mum spot on, thank you so much” TS

“Dear Clare, thank you for the receipt-I have had good feedback from the family who were happy with all aspects…so thanks to you too” D (funeral arranger)

Dear Clare, I feel I don’t have adequate words to thank you enough for the work you did in order to make Mother’s funeral service such a big success….it was a fitting tribute to her long and interesting life…T

Hi Clare, I have commented (on the HUK website feedback page) about how great you were yesterday and we as a family are super grateful to you. Dad would have been proud”  P

Clare is professional ,funny and compassionate . had great contact/fact gathering before and after the ceremony . Could not have asked for more. T

Clare did an amazing job – and I was very impressed with the way the ceremony was conducted. She was very careful to include all the information we wanted and  I would  recommend her to anyone else who wanted a humanist ceremony. P

“My brother said; “I want Clare to take my funeral if she hasn’t retired by then!” RC

Dear Clare

Thank you so much for the truly beautiful service today. I had several tears in my eyes throughout, you illuminated her life and helped us all see a person we never knew previously.

We certainly made it special for her in these difficult times.

Emma