About me
I have lived and worked in Brighton for 32 years but originally came from Croydon. I live with my husband in Fiveways and have a grown-up daughter and dog. I was brought up in a strict Christian family, but now follow a simple spiritual path of respect for our world and for each other. I have an open approach to belief and a philosophy of tolerance.
I have lost my parents, ex-husband, family members and several friends, and have experienced and witnessed grief and sadness in different ways. I took an active role in arranging my father’s funeral before training as a celebrant; my interest in funerals, and what makes a good funeral, grew from that.
My previous career was as a dental hygienist, where my special interest was in working with clients in anxiety management. I also have a Diploma in Holistic Aromatherapy. I am now in my seventh year as a celebrant and have found the last seven years to have been the most rewarding of my working life. I consider it a great privilege to support families so closely at such a difficult time. I believe that family involvement throughout the funeral process is an important factor within the grieving process and work to encourage that when creating a funeral ceremony.
I am a member of the Association of Independent Celebrants which provides support and professional indemnity cover for independent celebrants.
I am also a member of The Natural Death Centre, which is a charity that helps people to make informed choices about what is right for them, their family and their loved one.
Dying Matters Awareness Week event
Location: Brighton Unitarian Church, New Road, Brighton BN1 1UF
A day of activities, including talks, films, meditation, discussion, death cafe, coffin club, funeral planning and more…
We wanted Frances to be the celebrant at our beautiful mum's funeral, it was a shocking and extremely challenging time for us. She listened and guided us through the process with compassion, kindness, empathy and love. She was always on hand when we had questions and was wonderfully directive, which was incredibly helpful when our heads were all over the place. She organised and guided us through the service process, sorting times out to suit us, which was tricky as one of us is living in New Zealand. I would have no hesitation in recommending Frances as a celebrant for any occasion. N.T.
Frances helped my brother and I prepare for our father’s funeral. We were in different places so met by Zoom which was great, and immediately felt at ease with Frances who laid out the whole process easily in a way that we could understand. She was friendly and empathetic and helped us put the service together and make suggestions. The service she worked with us to deliver was everything we had hoped for and we couldn’t have done it without her. She played an essential role both in the lead-up, and on the day of the service. Thank you Frances, for all your help. R.K
On behalf of us all I would like to sincerely thank you for leading our goodbye to Mum at Clayton Wood last Tuesday. It was a beautiful service - moving, whilst calm and peaceful, and we very much appreciated your sensitivity and thoughtfulness. From our first communication, you put us at ease, showing interest in each of us individually, and encouraging and guiding us through our preparation for last Tuesday and the service itself. Your friendly, gentle and caring approach has helped us greatly at this time. F.B.
Thank you for all your understanding, help and kindness in steering us through organising G's funeral to the point where we actually came to understand what we wanted. The outcome was a wonderful service that you conducted with such warmth and inclusiveness, that was a celebration of G's life. So many people commented on how impressive you were. We are now able to look back on the ceremony with happiness, through the sadness, which is an outcome we never thought possible. A.W.
Frances was our celebrant yesterday, she was magnificent! With an enormous amount of planning by her, for us, she organised us in our grief; with sensitivity and honesty, which culminated in a triumph of our day of celebration. She set the perfect tone, a balance of respect for my wife with the grace, humour and dignity required when addressing over 60 people. A truly amazing day, I can't recommend Frances highly enough. D.H.
I could not have said goodbye to my husband without your help. You were there for me every step of the way and I can't thank you enough. The service was a beautiful celebration of his life and just how I wanted it to be. Your care and compassion gave me strength at such a sad time. H.S.
