Please visit my website here

Love

For me, it is all about love. When I meet a family and listen to the stories and memories about the person who has died, it is always with love and when everything else is stripped away, love is what shines through the often seemingly insurmountable, inexplicable loss.  I am a funeral celebrant because of love and because to be given permission by a family or friend to speak about the person who has died is an absolute privilege for me.

The Best Job in the World

It’s more than a job: conducting meaningful and bespoke non-religious funerals is a vocation. I was drawn to this line of work as a result of my own bereavements and my positive experiences of attending Humanist funerals. The notion that a whole life could be celebrated at a funeral was a revelation to me, and rather than feeling only sadness at funerals, I discovered that I could also delight in the life that had been lived; the ability to celebrate alongside the inevitable grief was like a gift.

 

I am intensely interested in people and will spend time with you listening to you recall your memories of the person who has died. Together we can choose which photos you want for the order of service and talk about the music that your loved one would want to be played at their funeral. We can choose poems or readings and all the while, as you reminisce, I will craft a script which will be a celebration of their life, a celebration which will be meaningful, memorable and utterly unique. We may laugh, you might cry, but whatever the exchange is, it will be an authentic one. I work with families and individuals from all backgrounds and welcome clients from the LGBT community. I have also adopted The Celebrant Accord, so you know that my work with you is quality assured.

My Background

Before becoming a Humanist Celebrant, I worked in adult education, teaching a variety of vocational subjects and managing a small team of tutors. I found the work fascinating because the unpredictable nature of working with adult learners was frequently challenging, often fun and always fulfilling.  I have not entirely left education, however, and also work on a consultancy basis for a London university, assessing students with disabilities for the Disabled Student’s Allowance and teaching English to adult learners in the community. I am trained in Humanist pastoral care work and currently volunteer for St Clare Hospice as a Compassionate Neighbour and for Age UK Essex as a Befriender. See me in the St Clare video here.

I am a Londoner, born and bred, from a long line of real EastEnders! Six years ago I moved to Waltham Abbey on the Essex borders where I live with my two dogs and two cats, all of whom came into my life through my late partner, who willed them to me after her death.

Knowing and understanding the impact that the death of a loved one can have, has made me simplify my life and as a result, I am content to walk with my dogs in Waltham Abbey Gardens or enjoy a drive out to the country and pitch a tent. It is important for me to be surrounded by people who make me happy and to enjoy beautiful things which give me pleasure. As the poet, Keats said, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty – that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”.

Contact me

I work throughout London, Essex and Hertfordshire and further afield for an additional fee.

Give me a call, it’s free, no obligation 07779 719 562

ruth.silverstone@humanistceremonies.org.uk

Accredited by Humanists UK to conduct funeral ceremonies.

For Fees Visit my Website Here 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The funeral of the late Theresa Maria Ryan

with family bearers