Celebrancy With Grace

To have the honour of hearing a life story, be that from an individual making plans or the family and community organising a funeral, is, I feel a real privilege. Confident in my skills, with a calm and gentle hand, I will walk beside you to create a beautiful and meaningful ceremony, that is right for you.

I am an Independent Funeral Celebrant based in Sheffield. My goal is to help you plan, create and deliver a personalised service of farewell.

I am fully trained and qualified to write and create a unique and meaningful ceremonial script that both honours and celebrates a life lived. I will walk beside and support you throughout.

What is a Funeral Celebrant?

As a Funeral Celebrant I can help you accurately reflect the life, character, beliefs and values of the person who has died and listen to you and others who are arranging the ceremony.

It’s important for me that I ensure you have what feels right and what you need. I am a professional and will work confidently with all involved in the ceremony.

We should all have the opportunity to create ceremonies that are just right for us, suitable for the circumstances and that truly represent the life of our person and how we want them to be remembered.

This can be anything that you need it to be. It may involve some religious elements or none at all. It may be at a local crematorium, outdoors in woodland or in your community hall. You may wish for me to speak throughout or want to speak your own words or perhaps read someone else’s; I would support you in doing that.

As I’m an Independent Funeral Celebrant I am not connected to any particular faith. I will bring calm professionalism, I will listen, and I am someone you can trust and someone who cares.

My Approach

My belief is that a funeral service is about the person who has died but is for the benefit of those left.

I am a people person and love all forms of communication, particularly listening. I have worked with many different communities over the years and with people in a one-to-one setting and also as part of huge groups and public events. I love that I always learn something new and sometimes surprising from all these interactions.

As a facilitator and key worker, I have worked in a variety of roles with a multitude of different people. I've worked within the fire service as well as working directly with disengaged young people, adults and families with addiction issues. Other career roles include working with adults who are isolated be that from family or community and many volunteer groups.

I see our individuality and I am honoured to be part of our diverse and unique society. I have been lucky enough to support individuals and groups in allotments, art groups, training, recovery, health and wellbeing sessions, antiques, skills training and project managed festivals and large scale events.

As a trained photographer, I’m always looking and seeing what is around us. I particularly enjoy photographing portraits of people involved in activities they enjoy and in places that they love. I am also a member of a local choir and relish trying out new songs, especially those from around the world. Reading is a constant and never fails to inspire me, I am moved by the beauty and power of words, any type and style of writing.

I respect and want to work with people of all races, orientations, genders, ages, sizes, identities, lifestyles, cultures, differences and disabilities (whether visible or not). I will always try my hardest to be kind, considerate and inclusive. I work with respect and maintain the highest levels of confidentiality.

I believe in asking questions and exploring for opportunities, innovations and potential answers together. At what can be a frightening time, it can help to be open and honest together.

I am emotionally intelligent, I will be present for you and give you space for what you want to discuss and share. I will uphold you, showing sensitive leadership during what can be a difficult time. I have a calm and gentle temperament and I am able to reassure and empathise whilst working sensitively and with compassion.

I also want to acknowledge that sometimes there are complexities; this can be an emotionally raw and chaotic time. I will give space for thoughts, feelings and memories of that person and if it is right for you, we will acknowledge the continuing bonds.

I know how important our environment is to us and how a walk through nature, surrounded by beautiful animals can be of solace at difficult times in our lives. Therefore, I have decided to donate 5% of my fee from every funeral I conduct to The Woodland Trust.

I am fully qualified and a member of the Green Fuse Funeral Celebrants Guild and the Funeral Celebrant Accord and I carry appropriate insurance.

What to Expect

I will make contact with you to arrange a time for us to meet. This could be in person, online via video (e.g. Zoom) or on the phone. This meeting could last up to 2 hours, more or less as required.
If not all involved are able to attend this meeting, I am happy to contact them separately, if required.
I will spend time with you to learn about the person who has died and to understand what is required whilst providing information and advice for the planning of the ceremony.
We may discuss their personality and values, their life story including beliefs, who will be present at the ceremony and details for the service, amongst many other things.
I will be able to write a unique ceremony using words and thoughts you have shared.
Support in the choices around music, poetry, readings, rituals, personalising the room.
Support for those wishing to speak and participate themselves.
A draft copy of the ceremony will be sent to you in plenty of time so that you are able to read it through. Is the tone, feel and wording right for you? I am passionate about getting the service just right.
I will communicate efficiently with the Funeral Director and venue staff (where appropriate).
I will lead the funeral service and make sure all the elements, run as smoothly as is possible.
I will contact you on the day prior to the service, to hear how you are that day.
On the day of the service, I will always aim to be at the venue prior to your arrival to greet you and be available for any questions.

Direct Cremations, what does this mean?
As we know more people are opting for the “no fuss” option of direct cremation but we often want to celebrate and honour how special our person is to us, the love we feel, maybe make a bit of a fuss? Something meaningful and fulfilling.
Can we have a ceremony whilst adhering to our persons wishes? We don’t just want them to disappear.
Absolutely. This can be anywhere, anytime, any number of people and be as unique as you and your person are. I would be honoured to support you through this process, be that a small gathering or a more public one, a celebration of life, a memorial or a chance to grieve with those you love. It is so important that you are connected throughout.
By using a local funeral director to support you, you will be able to be more present, throughout than if a national company has been chosen.
These are possible, if you choose a local Funeral Directors:
- Same day as the cremation, with the coffin present
- Same day as the cremation, without the coffin present
- On a different date before the cremation, with the coffin present.
These are possible, if you choose a local Funeral Directors or a national direct cremations company:
- On a later date with the cremated remains present, once they are with you
- On a later date without the cremated remains present
- On a significant date, birthday etc, with or without the cremated remains present
- On an anniversary date, with or without the cremated remains present.
I’m happy to talk, to answer any questions, so please do get in touch.
It would be an honour to support you to create a meaningful funeral or memorial service for your beloved pet. They bring us love, companionship and joy.
They are our everything, a much loved, constant and consistent family member and their loss can be acknowledged in a way that brings comfort, as we recognise all they meant to us. This can be an intense time and by creating a unique celebration of life, I hope that you will find some peace.
The grief experienced after losing a pet is a testament to the strong emotional connection, we share with them. “No longer by our sides but forever in our hearts”
Please do call, if you’d like to ask any questions or to talk this through.
“Today, we received a beautiful thank you card from a family we recently had the honour of supporting. Their kind words were a touching reminder of why we do what we do. A special mention goes to our wonderful celebrant Grace whose warmth, compassion, and thoughtful words helped create a truly meaningful farewell”.
— Eric Eyre Funeral Directors

“It's moments like these that remind us how powerful a little kindness can be during life's most difficult times”.

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for looking after us all today and your beautiful words. I have no idea how you managed to get across everything we wanted to say about mum from our babbling that afternoon at mums! but you did us proud and we all appreciate the work you put in to make it so special”.

“I have been getting lots of feedback from people who were at the funeral and everyone who has commented seems to have genuinely thought it was a good service, a good send off, realistic, well organised, felt right, and that kind of comment. When I first looked at your website, I thought it might be too good to be true, but having looked at it again after the funeral your website perfectly describes what you did. "Thank you" doesn't seem enough for what you did, but, thank you”.

“I just wanted to say thank you again for today. It was a lovely day and I think Mum would have been proud of us”.

“So many people commented on your calm and heartfelt delivery, and the way everything felt so personal. It really made things so much easier for me knowing that you were there”.
“I just wanted to say a huge thank you for yesterday. Everything went as I had hoped, and I have since had many comments from the folks present about how they enjoyed your telling of Mum's life story. I'm really happy you were the one to lead the service”.
“Just a few words Grace to thank you so much for taking care of us through these difficult times. You were a shoulder to lean on and we are so grateful. Everything went so well”.

“You captured her essence perfectly and you have been so kind and sensitive throughout the whole process”.