Last year one of my closest friends, Bryan Bale, died after a long illness. On Monday I conducted a one year on memorial on Zoom. It was pure coincidence of course but Bryan, always a proud Welshman, died on St
SICA Christmas Service
The very first SICA (Scottish Independent Celebrants’ Association) Christmas Service will be broadcast on their Facebook Page on Monday 21st December (Winter Solstice) at 7pm, and available on the page after that too. A group of celebrants from right across Scotland have
Paisley funeral – a day of journeys
Usually when I am asked to conduct a funeral, the family has already selected a funeral director. Sometimes, if they already know of me, they will ask the funeral director to contact me. More often the funeral director will suggest
Creating Rituals for Healing & Change
I completed some more CPD training in the form of a workshop last week. The session was led by William Ayot, poet, ritualist and teacher. There was a lot of discussion about different types of rituals – rituals of growth
Jane Sheppard – funerary urns
Just recently a friend of mine mentioned that he worked with a ceramic artist who is also a celebrant and interfaith minister, Jane Sheppard. He thought I might like to see her work, especially her funerary urns. I had a
Latest COVID-19 guidance for funeral services from Scottish Government
The Scottish Government has just updated its guidance on funeral services during the coronavirus lockdown. The guidelines are still very restrictive, in line with the fact that we are at a very risky stage with a real danger of a
Funeral care for transgender people – a video
My colleague and fellow celebrant, Emma Curtis, has contributed to a short video on funeral care for trans people – especially in the current lockdown. It’s aimed at transgender people but is actually a really useful watch for anyone who
COVID White Paper and resources
There is a really useful collection of ideas and resources here – very useful for funeral celebrants and anyone involved in the world of funerals, bereavement, grief and loss. It’s a bit USA-centred but valuable none the less: COVID White
Funeral Celebrant Accord
The Accord defines the attributes and skills required of an excellent funeral celebrant and is intended to set the standards by which all celebrants offering funeral services should be measured. In summary, an excellent funeral celebrant: Is professional Cares for
Zoom funerals in the news
The BBC Radio 4 Today Programme this morning (18 April) carried an interesting feature about how funeral celebrants are starting to use Zoom and other similar online ways to perform ceremonies during the current coronavirus lockdown. Celebrant Claire Bradford explained
My first online funeral ceremony
Yesterday I conducted my first online funeral ceremony. The family of the deceased live on another continent and it wasn’t possible to hold the ceremony at a crematorium with live streaming facilities. So Co-op FuneralCare opted to hold the ceremony
Online funerals….in the age of COVID-19
See also update 10 April 2020. At the time of writing this (3rd April 2020) funerals in Scotland are still going ahead in crematoriums. Numbers are restricted to just ten people but some places, like Dundee, have the option to