Working with a Celebrant: End of Life Planning
Death isn’t something we like to think about; let alone talk about.
It’s somehow easier to just keep moving forwards in our lives and not think about the ‘what-ifs’ or the ending of our life or our that of our loved ones.
And although the only thing 100% certain in our life is death; to face this is understandably painful, heart-breaking, emotional and also extremely difficult.
In 2019 the Co-op shared the results of the launch of their Biggest Ever Survey into death, dying and bereavement. See the full report here. It was the 1st time national attitudes towards death had been looked at on such a large scale. At that time, 18 million people said they were uncomfortable talking about death. Latest research reveals that in the last year, this has decreased to 16.5 million.
Let’s be more open about it:
Whilst there’s still a long way to go in getting the nation more comfortable opening up about death, it’s encouraging to see that more of us are perhaps willing to talk about the inevitable with others.
Whilst so many UK adults don’t feel able to share such important wishes, 26% say they now know exactly what they want when it comes to their own funeral; a definite improvement from a year previous to that.
With that in mind and to encourage more people to share wishes with a loved one, the Co-op launched #MyFuneralWish – a hashtag to encourage people to share their funeral wishes publicly.
Working with a Funeral Celebrant:
As a Celebrant, it is an absolute privilege to support families during this difficult time. We work together to create a personal and special Ceremony to Celebrate the life of the deceased loved one.
Supporting families where they have a loved one with a terminal illness that has expressed a wish to make preparations for their Funeral is an incredible honour. It can also help during such a difficult time of grief and confusion to focus on your own wishes and choices for your Funeral.
It is a truly gentle and humbling approach; working together to help design your Service and Celebration exactly how you would like it. This can include Readings, Poems, Song choices and special personal touches of the Ceremony like colours etc for example.
In my experience I have also seen how it can help the families to be more united and supportive for each other during what can be a very challenging and difficult time.
Sometimes we had no idea of a specific song that was a favourite or all the stories and memories about their life!
Here to support:
If I can offer any support at all or if you have any questions then please get in touch. All details are noted below. Please note I am of no specific religious denomination.
Email Victoria at victoria.celebrant@asktheangels.uk or text/call on 07768 962369
You can also connect with me via Facebook and Instagram via the following links: