Our Services
Civil Funerals
When a loved one dies, it is always a very painful and distressing time.There are often faced with dozens of decisions about the funeral. Who should conduct the ceremony?
All these questions are obviously important but, at a time when emotional stress is high, it's easy to forget perhaps the most important question of all - what kind of funeral do you really want?
The truth is that every family is different, and not everyone wants the same type of funeral. Your choice may be influenced by religious and cultural traditions, or by cost and personal preferences, or by the express wishes of the deceased. And whilst the majority of people in the UK still choose a 'traditional' religious funeral service, an increasing number are finding that their personal preferences are easily accommodated within a Civil Funeral Ceremony and therefore a more appropriate choice for them to make.
A Civil Funeral Ceremony can therefore provide an opportunity to create, with the help and support of a professional Civil Funeral Celebrant, the most appropriate and meaningful Ceremony for this final act of love and respect.
Civil funeral celebrant
Practising Celebrants possess the ultimate in professionalism and empathy and have been rigorously assessed in order to gain and maintain membership status of the IoCF.
The Civil Funeral ceremony is fitting for either a cremation or burial and can be held at most appropriate locations with the exception of churches and religious buildings.
Ceremonies will usually be arranged through a Funeral Director who can organize a Civil Funeral by contacting the Celebrant directly. Once contact is made, a Celebrant will arrange a meeting with the family as soon as possible. Celebrants are identified by their official IoCF membership badge which is pictured here.
When meeting with the bereaved family, the Celebrant will explain what is involved and then plan the Ceremony together with the family; favourite readings and music can be incorporated and chosen from the wide selection available. Family members and friends can also be invited to take part in the ceremony.
Following the meeting, the Celebrant will create a ceremony that reflects the wishes and preferences of the deceased and the bereaved family and then seek the family's final approval of the text.
Client satisfaction is closely monitored and facilitated through a post-funeral questionnaire, where essential client feedback is gathered and acted upon where necessary.
A recent ceremony performed generated this feedback "Several people have said what an excellent ceremony it was.... So many people are too afraid to ask for what they really want. We will always remember your kindness, the day was exactly right and it was due to your (the Celebrant's) dedication in getting it right".
Quality accreditation requirements demand that high quality control standards are applied, not only to the training course but also post-training, where both the Celebrant and their actual management and delivery of the ceremony are monitored and audited to ensure quality control standards are met
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Civil Funeral Celebrants are required to take part in a CPD scheme(Continuing Professional Development) which ensures that their skills and abilitites are constantly developing.
Richard Coghlan is a trained civil funeral celebrant and a member of IoCF
