A Beautiful Service
​Celebrating life events with non-religious ceremonies
ABOUT
Dr. Wendy Hesketh, PhD.
Director, A Beautiful Service
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Wendy is a communications expert, with qualifications in teaching, training and journalism. She is a published author. She has her own family and has faced the daunting task of organising a funeral for her own parent. Wendy therefore understands what a difficult time the recently bereaved have in dealing with the death and funeral arrangements of a loved one. Wendy uses her skills to sensitively take down all the information required to create a loving memorial about the life of the person who has died. Wendy also conducts Naming and Unity ceremonies.
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​Mr John Thomson
Life Celebrant and Public Speaker
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John is also a communications expert, with a long and distinguished career in broadcast journalism as a producer with BBC Radio Scotland. John, who has himself recovered from cancer, has also spent much of the last few years working with The Prostate Cancer Charity as a media speaker, including TV and radio, and staffing information stands and giving talks to a range of audiences, sharing his own experiences and those of others. John is an experienced public speaker who understands that not everyone is at ease talking in public but that they may wish their words to be heard by those attending a funeral or other poignant moment in life's journey. "It is important", says John, "that our lasting memories of a loved one are spoken with grace and humility. That is the function of a celebrant: to let others listen and concentrate on the memories being spoken aloud. Words are important at all times, but so much thought needs to go into the most appropriate ones at a time of grief. Sometimes the family and close friends need help with choosing those words and with making sure that all those attending hear them to their best advantage." John conducts most of our End of Life celebrations and believes in the importance of the spoken word in helping to achieve that 'final' memory.​