HOMEPAGE
ACTIVITIES
HUMANISM
CEREMONIES
MY HUMANISM
OPEN FORUM
SACRE
JOIN US
LINKS
HUMANIST CALENDAR
HOMEPAGE
ACTIVITIES
HUMANISM
CEREMONIES
MY HUMANISM
OPEN FORUM
SACRE
JOIN US
LINKS
HUMANIST CALENDAR
In 1992 CORNWALL HUMANISTS, recognising the need for atheists & agnostics to be cremated or buried with
a ceremony compatable with their beliefs, trained and appointed celebrants to conduct dignified, non-religious ceremonies,
'tailor made' to the requirements of the deceased and their family. We see it as celebrating a life. Since then
we have grown and developed into a well-known and well respected part of Cornwall's funeral industry.
We have also broadened our reach into conducting weddings, namings and gay affirmations. We've even conducted
a 'mayoral inauguration'.
YOUR FUNERAL ARANGEMENTS
We are happy to advise and/or assist those wishing to conduct a ceremony themselves.
We are available for 'talks' to groups and organizations.
Our celebrants are;
I have been a Humanist celebrant for nearly 30 years. I help families and couples create funerals, weddings
for both hetero and homo sexual couples, namings. I very much enjoy helping create ceremonies which reflect
just what is appropriate in each situation.
I created and conducted a mayoral ceremony for a long time colleague and a ceremony for a couple celebrating
thirty years of marriage who had first contacted me through their father's funeral. It is particularly rewarding
to do a number of ceremonies for the same family.
I conducted my first funeral on behalf of Cornwall Humanists
in 1992 and It's now become a major part of my life. The privilege of being able to
help people through a traumatic stage in their lives gives me great satisfaction.
I cover the whole of Cornwall and have ventured into Devon and Dorset.
It's a short, sideways step into wedding and baby naming ceremonies.
My first wedding was in 1997, as was my first gay affirmation.
My first naming in 1998. We are lucky in Cornwall. Many couples choose to have ceremonies
here as we have some beautiful, even
spectacular sites for such occasions. I have conducted
ceremonies in hotels, beaches, woods,
Carn Brea Monument, in the ruins of
Restormal Castle, a farm, a front
garden, a back garden, even in a cave. Also
in a number of Youth Hostels, some you can rent for a
week-end. Each and every one is unique.
Brought up in a Humanist family in Cornwall, I left to become a teacher and lived in South Yorkshire for 40 years. I retired recently and came back home to live in Redruth in January 2008.
On our return, I joined Cornwall Humanists, which my parents with others founded many years ago, and was last year invited to become a Celebrant.
I conducted my first Wedding Ceremony in the Summer of 2009 on the beach at
Trebah Gardens and found it to be a very special experience. I have since
conducted three more lovely weddings and two delightful baby namings and
look forward to meeting more people to help them plan and design their own
special and unique ceremonies.
I have been a humanist for many years and always felt it wrong that people who live their lives without religion
should have a religious ceremony at the end of their life.
I have taken a number of non religious ceremonies for friends and relatives during this time and it gave me great satisfaction to know that
that their wishes were carried out.
My main motivation
is to ensure that the friends and family get a real opportunity to both grieve and celebrate the life of the deceased.
For further information contact one of our celebrants or; contact us
PLANING YOUR OWN FUNERAL
There is only one thing certain in this life, and that is that it will come to an end for all of us, so let's face up to it and give it some thought.
When the time comes it will be others who have to make all the arrangements for your funeral and it would be a great help to them if you would let them know what you would like without being too prescriptive.
Many people say "I don't want any fuss, just take me to the crem in a bin liner." As that is not legal it is of no help to those left behind and their need to go through the grieving process. A funeral ceremony should be a positive celebration of a life and a comforting experience for the mourners.
It is with this in mind that Cornwall Humanist put together these pages for you to print and fill in sections as you wish. You may print as many as you like to give to your next-of-kin/executors/solicitor/bank/family/friends, and it is important that they know where to find your up-to-date master copy.
You choose what you would like - burial, cremation, where, green*, cardboard, wicker or standard coffin, flowers, or donations in lieu of, to the charity of your choice, what music you would like, what you would like done with your ashes.
click here to view the "My Funeral Arrangements" form. You can complete as many or as few fields as you wish. You may choose to put in some of your own.
(this is untested - your comments would be most welcome - contact us)
Have you ever thought of organ donation. You can register at the organ donation register and don't forget to tell your family.
*Green sites
Rose Farm,
Chyanhal, Buryas Bridge, in West Penwith.
Pentiddy Natural Burials, Pentiddy Woods, Pensilva, Liskeard.
There is also another at Pont's Mill, Par, near St. Austell,
and part of the cemetery at Killivose, Camborne has been put aside for “ecological burials”.