When a relative or friend dies you need a Funeral with a feeling at which you experience grief, as you let go of the person who’s died. And joy, as you celebrate the person and what they’ve done, and given, including some humour to keep the memories real and alive in your heart.

I’ve been taking funerals for over 44 years, initially as a Church of England priest. Yes that means I’m in my 70s, and I like to think I bring a certain gravitas (as well as grey hair), along with a lightness of touch, to any funeral that I lead. Now that I've retired, I can provide just the right funeral for your loved one.

I weave my experience together with what you want, and with what your loved one would want. If you want religious, I can do that; if you want to keep religion out of it, I can do that. The importance is to create a funeral that means something, and I’ll liaise with the funeral director you’ve chosen to ensure a smooth and memorable event.

Please call to discuss the options or use contact page.

I’m the member of Association of Independent Celebrants.

What people are saying.

  • Ian

    John was the celebrant for the funeral of a very close friend (over 30 years). My friend passed at a relatively young age, subsequently there were a lot of people at the funeral. I had a meeting with John beforehand and told him about my friend’s life, and his quirky nature. John obviously really listened, as he captured him beautifully and gave a lovely service. Very calming and reassuring. We invited him to the wake where and spoke with friends and family. Would thoroughly recommend him.

    September 2023

  • Felicity and family

    At the time of my son’s passing we reached out to John, to ask him if he would conduct the service. He had many words of comfort and the service he gave was very warm and compassionate. My husband recently passed away and we once again reached out to John. The family found his service to be as warm and compassionate.

    October 2023

  • Suzy and family

    John was the celebrant at my dear dad’s funeral and we really couldn’t have asked for more. As soon as we met John his calm reassurance immediately made us feel at ease and we knew we were in safe hands. John totally managed to capture my dad’s adventurous spirit and fun personality in the service and I know that dad would have loved it. From the impromptu sing-song at the beginning to the beautifully spoken tributes he read out on behalf of some family members, he added just the right amount of humour to help make it the celebration of dad’s life that we had hoped for. From the many comments that we received from friends and family afterwards, we also know that it was one of the best funerals people had been to! I cannot recommend John highly enough and we will definitely contact him again when we have our next big family event, which will hopefully be a Wedding 🥰

    March 2024