MY BACKGROUND

I am originally a political refugee from apartheid era South Africa and over the last 40 or so years I have been a multi award winning film and television director. I only set my mind to becoming a funeral celebrant a few years ago after I was asked out of the blue by the widow of a friend and colleague who had recently died of cancer whether I would be willing to conduct his funeral. The request surprised me, but since I had also contributed to writing the funeral scripts for my parents and my mother in law, all three of whom died in old age, as well as my much loved sister, who died tragically in a riding accident, and since I had always been told that I was an accomplished public speaker, I thought I would give it a go. Fortunately,  several of those present in the packed crematorium said afterwards that I had made an excellent job of it thank goodness.

Since then I have been formally trained and accredited by Humanists UK and am very happy and privileged to be enabled to do my best to create a non religious ceremony to meet the wishes of many different people from all walks of life. My desire, at what can be an enormously difficult time, is to allow whoever is responsible for organising the funeral to at least be able to relax in the knowledge that the ceremony, when it comes, will be in safe hands.

 WHAT NEXT?

Some people absolutely know what they want from the service and all I have to do is fashion it into shape, and then act as “master of ceremonies” on the day, while others will only have the vaguest idea of what they want, in which case I am there to tease out what they might like in order to best celebrate and honour the memory of the deceased. You may be one of these or somewhere in between.

Once you strip away the structure and formality provided by a religious funeral you are left with a blank page to fill as you wish. That needn’t be intimidating however, as basically I am here to help you create precisely the ceremony you want to tell the story of your friend, relative, or loved one, now lost but certainly not to be forgotten, or even one for yourself if you are planning your own funeral for the future, through music, readings and tributes.

The way we will do this is by talking to each other. So, prior to the ceremony I will almost certainly need to meet with at least one lead mourner, but basically with as many people as is practical, either in person or virtually, or at the very least by telephone, so that I can find out as much as possible about the person who has died in order to structure the contents of the ceremony and fashion a tribute to be read out.

Provided there is sufficient time allocated for the event, I will also encourage as many friends or family who want to speak to write something which either they or I can read at the ceremony. The full funeral script, once it is completed, will then be emailed to the lead mourner(s) for their approval before being finalised.

Throughout all of this I will be liaising with the Funeral Director and any other involved people to ensure that you are subject to the minimum stress and worry. Then, on the day, I will conduct the funeral service itself and support any of the speakers if they need it during the ceremony. Finally, the lead mourner(s) will be given a hard copy presentation script of the funeral as well as digitally.

WHY ME?

I believe funerals really matter and are terribly important, to honour and celebrate the life of the deceased person, but perhaps even more importantly, as part of the process of helping bereaved people through the process of grieving. In a sense a funeral is a rite of passage, and it needs to be done right to give at least some sort of closure to all involved.

I have spent my entire professional career telling the stories of people, whether living or dead, famous or completely unknown, to huge audiences, and I really mean it when I say that I feel incredibly privileged now to be able to use those skills in devising a bespoke, personal event to accurately and appropriately fit your needs and wishes.

Whether you want to have me help you craft a Cremation, a Burial, a Green Burial or a Memorial Service, don’t hesitate to get in touch. My contact details are on the right hand side of this page. Once you have decided that you would like to use me as your celebrant I will work as closely with you as you want to ensure that you have a uniquely memorable and meaningful service. And most of all, I promise to work with you with tact, sensitivity and calm as we negotiate the path together through the process culminating in the day of the funeral.

I live with my family in Central London and East Suffolk, so anywhere around the whole of London including the Home Counties, as well as East Anglia, is particularly easy for me, but I am also happy to work with you where-ever you are located and where-ever the ceremony is due to be held.

If you would like to know more about the work I have done and the life experience I have had, I check the Wikipedia page about me every few months and the last time I looked it seemed to be pretty accurate.     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Blair

RELIGION OR NO RELIGION?

Finally, my own humanist beliefs and philosophy come from my passionate belief in humanity, human rights and the dignity that every person on earth is entitled to, along with a belief in the science that we only have one life and that there is no afterlife.

That said, however, I have an extremely flexible approach to the issue of religion within any ceremony you might want. Clearly, if you wanted a purely religious funeral you would not be looking here for a celebrant, but I do understand that amongst many families and friends there is likely to be a diversity of views about the place religion might have in a funeral, and I am entirely open to anything, whether it includes a prayer, a piece of music or whatever, that helps make the ceremony as relevant as it can be for you, the bereaved family and friends. In this, as in all other things to do with the event, I am there to assist and advise, but not to prescribe one or another way to do it.