Meet the Humanist Ceremonies celebrants!

In the second of a series of profiles on Humanist Ceremonies trained and accredited celebrants in Northern Ireland, we meet three of the network.

Janni is a full-time celebrant living in Belfast with her husband and two dogs. A people person who loves good conversations, she finds it a real privilege working with families to create meaningful, personal funeral ceremonies.

Dealing with difficult or sensitive situations is no problem for Janni, with her background being in mediation, facilitation and training. She has a degree in Communication and Cultural Studies and a Masters in Mediation and Conflict Intervention.

In her spare time you’ll often find Janni curled up with a book. She met her husband working in conservation and they share passions for wildlife and cooking!

Richard already had background knowledge of the funeral business through working for Funeral Times for over thirty years. A colleague connected this knowledge with Richard’s humanist principles and suggested that he train to become a humanist celebrant.

He first thought it would be an interesting project as he approached retirement, but now it’s so much more for him.

Richard feels it is a privilege to support families at their most stressful time and finds joy in hearing stories about their loved ones.

In his spare time Richard puts together a magazine for lovers of musical theatre and also makes stage props. He loves to sing, walk, and visit the pub with good friends.

Avril began to look into becoming a celebrant after a tragic personal situation meant she was looking for a nonreligious celebrant for the funeral of a loved one.

After a couple years of considering it, her friend’s mum challenged her to ‘just do it’. She then became a member of Humanists UK and applied for their celebrant training course. Avril’s skills as a facilitator and community builder have proved useful, as has her degree in English. These skills have helped her to make people feel at ease and then put their words into stories to remember and honour their loved ones.

All our celebrants are trained and accredited by Humanists UK, have a DBS check and insurance cover. As part of our quality assurance, there is regular peer review and a transparent complaints process for families and our professional partners.

Full contact details of all our celebrants can be found on the inside front cover of this magazine or you can search for someone close to you at https://humanists.uk/ceremonies/ find-a-celebrant/funerals/

Jennifer Muldowney is an event planner for memorials in the United States of America and Ireland and is currently partnered with the prestigious Frank E. Campbell - The Funeral Chapel in NYC as their in-house event planner.

Jennifer is also notable as author of Say Farewell Your Way, Tedx speaker of ‘Grief as Unique as your Heartbeat’ and host of ‘The Glam Reaper Podcast’. Check out Muldowney Memorials (.com) to learn more.

By Jennifer Muldowney