Rebecca Stevens

Non-religious funeral ceremonies in Brighton and beyond…

About me…

I’ve spent my working life as a writer and performer for stage and screen and have written several children’s books. After leaving school I moved to Brighton and formed a theatre company with three friends. We spent the next ten years in a transit van taking comedy shows to people all over the country, whether they wanted us to or not.

Since that time, I’ve worked as a freelance writer and actor in comedy and children’s TV and have published five books for children.

As my own children grew up, I felt the need for some human contact that didn’t involve frying fish fingers or arguing about cheese, so applied to train as a listening volunteer with the Samaritans.  I loved it and, after over ten years, I still do. Listening while a stranger pours their story into your ear feels like the most intense and meaningful human connection possible.

And now, as a funeral celebrant with Humanists UK, I’ve found a role that brings together all my skills, interests and experience…

I believe…

…that a good funeral is as much about the living as the person who has died. It can be formal or informal, simple or flamboyant; there can be music, poetry, photos and flowers; stories, anecdotes, laughter as well as tears. There can be peace and silence; time for reflection and space to think.

But most of all there will be memories.

Sad, happy, funny, meaningful memories that celebrate the person’s life and enable their friends and family members to come together not just to say goodbye, but to support each other by sharing their feelings; to cry, to smile, to laugh, to nod in recognition.

To remember.

Out of sight need never be out of mind…

‘…the perfect celebrant’ – Memorial, October 2024

‘A million thanks to Becky, we felt in very safe hands from start to finish’ – Funeral, December 2024

‘Rebecca has a proper talent and the very necessary depth for this and I would recommend her 100% to anyone looking for the right person to create and tell the story of their loved one at a funeral service’ – Funeral, December 2024

‘So many people said how great and perfectly pitched you were with real sadness and joy in your voice, face and heart. You have to be genuine to do this kind of thing and you have that in bucket-loads’ – Funeral, December 2024

‘Thank you so much for the beautiful celebration for C. It was exactly what we wanted, all about his life not his death’ – Funeral, March 2025