The Good Funeral Guide Patrons
We are delighted to have the support and endorsement of the following wonderful people who have agreed to be Patrons of the GFG:
Zenith Virago
Educator, teacher, speaker, death walker
- Byron Bay, Australia
Zenith is a highly respected celebrant, educator, public speaker and author who lives in Byron Bay, Australia although she was born in England.
She is the founder of the Natural Death Care Centre charity, and was named Byron Citizen of the Year 2021 in recognition of her work.
“Inside everyone is the courage and capacity needed to be easier with death and dying, we just have to wake it up, remember, become more familiar, and practice it everyday. My work is a holistic hybrid of old and new ways, accompanying those who are dying and their carers, walking with the suddenly bereaved, creating ceremonies that encourage people to really honour their loved ones.”
Zenith’s website can be found here.
Ken West MBE
Hero of the natural burial movement
- Derbyshire
Ken needs no introduction to anyone in the world of natural burials. He designed and opened the world’s first natural burial site in Carlisle, and over 45 years of work he improved the burial situation for stillbirths – unchanged since the 1850’s – and for foetal remains, wrote the Charter for the Bereaved, introduced the reusable coffin for cremation and created techniques for reducing pollution from cremation.
He was awarded the MBE in 2001, retired in 2006 and wrote his first two books, publishing his third in 2019. He now has a new love, his pagan ancestor Zuri and writes about her and her world on his blog which can be found on his website Stonehenge Pensioner.
Mohamed Omer
Board Member – External Affairs, Gardens of Peace Muslim Cemetery
- East London
Mohamed is currently involved with various charities: he is a Board member – External Affairs, Gardens of Peace Muslim Cemetery, based in Hainault Essex. This is the largest dedicated Muslim Cemetery in Europe and has a capacity for 10,000 graves and burials in accordance with Islamic Shariah.
Chair – National Burial Council (an umbrella body for all Muslim Community dealing with burials and deaths )
Member of the Burial Cremation Advisory Group at the Ministry of Justice representing the Muslim Community
He is a trustee of The Big Issue Invest – an organization funding Social Enterprises that are not able to obtain funding from banks. Mohamed has been actively involved with community work in East London for the last 15 years.
Carolyn Harris MP
Member of Parliament, Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour
- Swansea
Born and raised in her own constituency of Swansea East, Carolyn grew up with a keen interest in politics – even as a young child campaigning and canvassing within her community.
After gaining a degree in Social Policy from Swansea University in 1998, Carolyn continued to work within her community, setting up two centres for disaffected youths. This was followed by roles as a Regional Director for a capacity building not-for-profit organisation and then a Regional Manager for a children’s cancer charity.
Her Parliamentary career began in 2005 when she was employed by the then Member of Parliament for Swansea East, Sian James, working for her for nearly ten years, initially as a caseworker, and eventually as her Office Manager and Senior Parliamentary Assistant.
When Sian chose to step down in 2015, Carolyn was selected as the preferred Labour candidate for Swansea East and on 7 May 2015, she was elected as the constituencies Member of Parliament with a majority of over 12,000. After the snap general election in 2017, Carolyn was re-elected with an increased majority.
We’d love your support
As a Community Interest Company, the Good Funeral Guide exists to benefit the community and to fulfil a social purpose. We rely on donations and goodwill to continue to do our work.
If you find our website helpful, please consider making a donation to help keep us going.
And if you’d like to support us while joining a community of like-minded people, why not consider joining the Good Funeral Guild?
