Looking for a funeral celebrant in London - can anyone recommend one?

[insadtimes]

My father died. We're not religious and need to find a funeral celebrant.

Not a humanist though - he wasn't keen on them for some reason.

Can anyone recommend a celebrant in London?

Or help give me guidance on how to choose one.

I think my family and my dad's friends will want to speak so we need a celebrant to sensitively be the MC, not one who will take over.

Someone left wing would be strongly preferable if possible - my dad was politicaly minded and it would be fitting.

And help or advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

Hopeful bump

I'm going to ask for this to be moved to bereavement

Have you asked the funeral director?

Two good ones I have come across are May Andrews and Billy Jenkins.

Did you know that you don’t have to have a celebrant at all? We didn’t for my mother- my eldest brother acted as a sort of chair and we did it ourselves.

Billy Jenkins is a humanist though, but I think that is a catch all term for non religious, isn't it?

We haven't asked the funeral director yet. We will but I'm aware they're a business and I'm a cynic and prefer personal recommendations to business ones.

I know of a very good one in Luton. Not aware of her political leanings though!
Which area of London are you talking about?

Her name is Helen Cook website below.

www.signatureceremonies.co.uk/

BertrandRussell we did think of doing it ourselves - but can't think of anyone who would want to take that role.

We just want someone to be the MC - to introduce and be the filler between people speaking. Also to take over if any of us are too upset on the day to speak, that kind of thing.

Lemonadesea and Giraffesarequitetall thanks for the recommendations, I'll have a look.

Humanists aren't the same as non-religious. Humanism is a specific set of ideas I think. You'd get a Humanist celebrant through an organisation like the BHA.

I know of some really lovely Humanist celebrants - but it's not what my dad wanted.

North East London

Was he a member of a trade union or other organisation that you could approach? Did he have any friends who are accustomed to running events/speaking in public who might be willing to take on the role for you?

But do speak to the funeral director. They'll be used to dealing with all kinds of requests.

He was active in a trade union but that was a long time age as he took early retirement.

He does have some community type groups he was involved in more recently ... maybe ... I'll think about that one.

I’m sorry for your loss. When my father died we had a Unitarian minister (previously unknown to any of us) conduct the funeral, in a secular venue, and not in clerical dress. He was very happy with making it very ‘faith neutral’, and with the political content for my massively lefty dad. Basically he MC’d it, and let family and friends lead, save for a beautiful bit of ceremony with candles at the end, which worked as well for people with faith as those without. Might be completely inappropriate for your family, but thought I’d mention it, as it wasn’t an option we were really aware of. Sadly not local, otherwise I’d pass on his name.

Thank you all for your comments I really appreciate it.

I'm sorry for your losses.

Alison Vallance is in NW london. She's very good

Thank you

Sorry for the loss of your Dad

If you don't manage to find the right person, do speak to the funeral director. Ours recommended a wonderful celebrant (not in London unfortunately). They will want the funeral to be right for you and will be aware of goods celebrants in your area.

Sorry for your loss, have pm-ed you some details of the celebrant we used recently

Are you using a crematorium? They often can suggest celebrants who are non denominational and will structure the ceremony according to your wishes. We found a celebrant that way for a relative who was not religious and not keen on the humanists either.

I would also talk to the funeral director, you don't have to take their advice.

A fellow Union member might be nice as a speaker if they knew him well, not sure if they do funerals as celebrants.

Whoever you select, check what they're going to say. Literally. Ask them to send you their script.

I must have been bonkers not to ask for a humanist celebrant when DH and I are atheists, but there you go. I spoke with the celebrant and was clear about no Jesus/afterlife stuff. I asked for their script and lo and behold, a religious element was there. I said it must be removed.

We used Ceri Tolley for my Mum and she was lovely.

Apparently the difference between a humanist and a celebrant is a humanist won’t mention any religion, whereas a celebrant will. Mum’s service wasn’t very religious, but we did have the Lords Prayer.

I’m sorry for your loss

Thought I'd do an update.

I've spent quite a bit of time looking and found three absolutely lovely and well recommended celebrants to choose from.

May Andrews

Jane Morgan

Susan Rae

I've spoken to all three of them and all seem so nice I thought I'd post here in case it helps anyone else going through a difficult time.

PinkSparklyPussyCat all the funeral celebrants I spoke to, will do non-religious funerals, both humanists and non-humanists.

They were all very flexible and said it was about doing what we wanted.