Gill Gant, Civil Funeral Celebrant

23/02/2021

Here’s a very interesting article about human composting, which is becoming available in a few places in the States. It’s an intriguing prospect for a greener world, and I wonder if anyone is thinking about a similar facility in the UK?

https://www.seattletimes.com/life/recompose-the-first-human-compositing-funeral-home-in-the-u-s-is-now-open-for-business/

After five years of research and development, Recompose, the company founded by Seattle resident Katrina Spade that gives people the option of choosing natural organic reduction — otherwise known as human composting — as an alternative to burials and cremation,...

27/11/2020

So true. It’s always important to give people the time and opportunity to talk - about their feelings, their memories and their thoughts- but now perhaps more than ever. Covid 19 has stolen from families and friends some very precious things. If you can give someone who is grieving a listening ear, especially when you can’t give that hug they long for, then you will help a great deal. And it’s ok to ask ‘are you ok?’. Your listening ear may be the very thing that gets someone through a difficult day.

Not being able to say goodbye and less support contribute to longer and unresolved pain

17/08/2020

Celebrate your life, your way, by planning early and setting out your wishes. Talk to your family and friends too, so they know your thoughts.

Have you ever thought about what you want for your funeral? You don’t have to be old, or very ill, to make some decisions about how you would like your funeral or memorial service to be.
You probably already know whether you want to be buried or cremated, but what about the details? Where do you want your funeral to be held? Do you want a natural burial perhaps, with a biodegradable coffin? Do you want readings and, if so, which ones and read by whom? Perhaps there's even a particular route you would like your hearse to take. What music would you like your family and friends to hear? Thinking about these things needn’t be a morbid experience at all, and in fact can be quite calming and steadying.

By taking the initiative and setting out what you want now, you can get on with living your life, knowing that when the time comes your loved ones will know what you wanted and be spared from having to make difficult decisions.

In these difficult days, whilst Covid 19 holds sway, funeral ceremonies have, of necessity,been smaller and more private affairs but frankly this needn’t stop either a virtual celebration of life taking place or the planning of a ceremony at a later date, once restrictions are eased further.

To help you do this, the charity, Dying Matters, and the National Association of Funeral Directors have produced ‘My Funeral Wishes.’ It's a simple form which lets you create a personal funeral plan that reflects you as an individual. To get a copy, just go to this site: https://www.dyingmatters.org/page/my-funeral-wishes.

There are local civil Funeral celebrants, like me, who would be honoured to help you plan, or when the time comes support your family in carrying out your wishes.

Have you ever thought about what you want for your funeral? You probably already know whether you want to be buried or cremated, but what about the details? Where do you want your funeral to be held? Do you want readings and, if so, which ones and read by whom? Perhaps there's even a particular rout...

04/08/2020

I thought this webinar might be of interest to colleagues and others.

23/04/2020

Thanks to Heart and Soul for giving the heads up about this. The Government has produced a leaflet for the bereaved during Corona Virus outlining procedures, registration, bereavement and financial support.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/880807/Bereavement-Leaflet-digital.pdf,

19/04/2020

This is a very difficult time for many families. Bereavement is often so painful, parting from a loved one is so hard. And now, due to COVID 19 restrictions, hardly anyone is able to arrange the type of funeral service they’d imagined. With mourner restrictions in crematoria, and churches shut against the virus, large family gatherings are forbidden and tiny, short funeral services become the new normal. This applies to all bereaved people, of course, not just those directly affected by Coronavirus.

I would like to say to you that there is an opportunity for you to have the ceremony you desire, once these tough restrictions are lifted. You can hold a proper celebration of your loved ones life and invite as many people as you think fit. Perhaps, if you are coping with the death of a loved one at the moment, you might find some solace in planning a second, more suitable memorial service to be held later in the year. You could reach out to other members of your family and friends in the meantime to collect memories, photographs, tributes, poetry and writings that they treasure in memory of the one who has died, and you can use these to create a lasting and truly memorable last goodbye, later in the year.

Your vicar, minister or your religious leader will be happy to talk to you about arranging this or you can contact an Independent Funeral Celebrant Celebrant who will be very honoured to work with you to design a fitting tribute to your loved one, that can be held at a time when restrictions are lifted.

It might be impossible to have a proper farewell ceremony right now, and this will be heartbreaking for you and your loved ones, but fear not. The day will come when the restrictions fall away, and then you can hold a proper, fitting memorial ceremony. Any local Civil Celebrant will feel it a privilege to support you at this difficult time.

03/12/2019

Sad and a signal to get our collective fingers out. Action, not words.

The last Sumatran Rhino in Malaysia died on Saturday the 23rd of November this year, leaving only a handful of scattered populations left in Sumatra: http://www.wwf.org.my/?27425/Loss-of-Iman-Signifies-Time-to-Focus-on-Protecting-Wildlife
Our visiting volunteer from Malaysia shared her sobering thoughts with us:

10/11/2019

Go on.... put your ideas for Devon forward! I’d like to see many more woodland natural burial grounds to increase tree planting, reduce fossil fuel based cremations and get people used to the idea of being buried in or near your home. Every village or town should have a natural woodland burial site with a zero carbon on site funeral room or hall (straw bale, green oak, thatch, stone..) wonderful. Let’s do it!!
Go onto the www.devonclimateemergency.org.uk website and leave your idea!

Devon Climate Emergency - Find out how you can get involved, alongside public, private and voluntary organisations to tackle climate change.

04/10/2019

If you are planning for a funeral, are interested in nature, and in conservation, then a natural burial may be the right choice for you. You might be interested in this site, which has some useful information. There are also many celebrants out there but do consider someone properly trained with appropriate qualifications to ensure you have a fitting ceremony that truly reflects the life of the person who has died.
https://beyond.life/help-centre/arranging-a-funeral/what-is-natural-burial/

You may have heard about natural burial grounds. In this article we explain what natural burial is, and who it's suitable for.

27/09/2019

Locally, there’s talk of tree planting as part of a climate and ecological crisis mitigation response. Especially fruiting trees. Great idea. But this is what I’d like to do. Find a site where we can plant both trees and people. Planting a living woodland where we bury our dead. Encourage people to be buried in a natural way, in a beautiful setting. No energy lost in cremation; an all natural return to the Earth; nothing artificial, or plastic or toxic. Create a place of simple memories and at the same time a place of remembrance, and nature to encourage biodiversity, and carbon capture. Just need a bit of land 😂

21/09/2019

I was recently privileged to lead a funeral celebration of life for a lovely elderly lady, who I’d known some years ago. It was a small gathering of her kin, and mine. Most of her friends and relatives of her own generation had died before her. After the ceremony by her graveside, we gathered for tea and sandwiches. I drove home afterwards and considered the day.
What I had witnessed that sunny morning was the wonderful nature of human beings and families. The way a funeral can bring people together, to reaffirm bonds, to bring back shared memories, to heal more recent wounds in the face of loss and grief. There were children and babies there whose very presence underpinned the fact that life goes on, even when death is so close. I talked with people I hadn’t seen for years and yet who greeted me like one of the tribe. There was laughter with the tears. People mingled, touched base with each other and re-cemented the cracks in the family structure. I felt, yet again, what an absolute joy and honour it is to be a Funeral Celebrant and to help families in a time of bereavement. Not always friends and families of mine, of course, but in the bigger scheme of things, I guess it’s the wider family of man, if that’s not too cheesy a sentiment. I also felt that it underpinned, for me, the sheer value to those left behind, of some kind of farewell ceremony. Not only to say goodbye to the dead, but to say hello to the living.