Bereavement Counselling in the NHS (Taking the sting out of death)
Posted by Vale Pat is a Bereavement Counsellor working in an NHS Trust hospital. Her job is to help people affected by a death in a hospital, supporting them through their grieving. Pat is the subject of a long article inSaturday’s Guardian. It can be found here. It’s a heartening read. Death in a hospital […]
Keep calm and carry on
Posted by Charles There is a tendency among some visitors to this blog vastly to overrate the significance of death. How salutary it is, therefore, to remind ourselves that our legislators keep mortality both in perspective and in its place. Maternity leave As an employee you have the right to 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave […]
The bitter spice that sweetens the dish
Posted by Jonathan A celebrant said today: “Even when funerals are designed to be a celebration of life, I nearly always begin by acknowledging people’s grief and sadness.” Jose (see his thought provoking blog post of 19th September), ever enquiring and studiously leaving no stone unturned, wants to know about incorporating grieving and celebration of life […]
A good funeral: part 1
Posted by Sweetpea In the light of our recent discussions about the merits of secular, civil and religious funerals, one interesting thread started to appear. Namely, what should a funeral not fail to include? Can a funeral ever really be meaningful to anyone? Does any funeral do the things that people need it to do? […]
Shooting the messenger
Posted by Nicola Dela-Croix When I meet grieving families in my role as a celebrant, I always try hard not to judge them if their behaviour is less than polite. For example, the initial phone call where you gently introduce yourself, but are made to feel as welcome as a pre-recorded “Do not hang up… […]
Planning for a happy death
posted by our religious correspondent Richard Rawlinson A recently widowed middle-aged woman came in tears to Benedictine monk Fr Christopher Jamison, and thanked him for explaining in a talk based on his book, Finding Happiness: Monastic Steps for a Fulfilling Life, what she had felt since her husband died. Fr Christopher had shared his thoughts on achieving a happy death, […]
Ask not for whom the bill tolls
Posted by our irreligious correspondent Jonathan Taylor Who is a funeral for? For the living, in the belief that the dead person won’t be there? For the dead, to help them into the afterlife? Or is it for both, so the living and the dead can do something for each other? At the very least, […]
Sob stories
Posted by Charles The misery memoir – awful childhood, frightful beatings, Oliver Twist never had it so good, that sort of stuff, ooh – has, it seems run its course. The torment vultures have flown the well-picked corpse and are now feasting on bereavement. I’ve been aware of growth of this new genre and largely ignored […]
Top Ten Tips for arranging a funeral
Posted by Moss At the risk of seeming rather tabloid, especially during a difficult period for the press, we recently produced a list of tips for people who are arranging or planning a funeral. I presented this to a group of hospice workers and bereavement professionals who had a number of good suggestions to make, […]
Need to know, ought to know?
By Woody So many questions! When is it appropriate for people who work with the bereaved, be they funeral directors, celebrants, (long list of others) to give advice which they suspect might prove helpful even when they are not directly asked for it? How can you be sure that your gut instinct is right? To what extent […]
