A Celebration of Lives

It’s 2024, 10 years since we started A Natural Undertaking, and we didn’t feel we could let the moment pass without marking this important milestone in some way.

So we decided that on Friday 13th September (not at all superstitious in anyway…) we would do our best to gather our community together, provide a moment of remembrance for families, celebrate everything we’ve been able to do since 2014 and then ply everyone with wonderful food and drink (courtesy of Change Kitchen CIC and Attic Brewery)

Oh, and then, for anyone that fancied letting their hair down, we put on a ‘Death Disco’ at The Hare & Hounds Pub until the early hours.

A Procession to Remember

We kicked off the evening with an incredible procession from our premises on Vicarage Road – we had no idea how many people would join us – and we marched off towards All Saints Church, accompanied by the (very loud and brilliant) drumming from Babatunde Live. It must have looked like a very strange protest march to anyone passing by – families were proudly carrying A4 pictures of people they had come to remember , following a beautifully painted coffin which was filled with wildflowers (provided by Carole at Tuckshop Flowers)

A Ceremony of Stories

Once at the church everyone handed their picture to us so that we could arrange them in our wall of memory – bringing the people very much back into the room with us once more.

We had been a bit unsure about how people would feel gathering together in a church but Revd David Warbrick welcomed us all and emphatically reassured us that the church is not just a space to be used for religious purposes – it belongs to the community and everyone is welcome. He echoed our thoughts around the need to be candid about death, but also the need to soften the blow by finding the ‘beautiful’ that surrounds it.

After some quick thank yous from Carrie and Fran, the evening was handed over to the families to share their stories and thoughts. Rachel and Jayne Duncan shared their stories about their parents’ funerals and we played some short videos that we have recorded over the last few months of families who had some important memories and perspectives to share. You can watch these videos by clicking this link.

In between the stories we sang, and listened to beautiful folk music from Bethany Kay on the banjo and Lauren Elliott on the harp.

Sadly our ceremony was cut short just before the end as a gentleman was taken unwell (he has made a full recovery!) but such is life. And as it happened, most people felt it brought them even closer together that night as they then moved through into the All Saints Centre to eat, drink and share more stories.

The Death Disco

And for those that joined us later in the evening – it was a chance for us all to let our hair down and dance til the early hours to the tracks that we’d all chosen. We also used the Disco to raise money for Papyrus – Prevention of Young Suicide and we’re really pleased to say that we raised £614 from the ticket sales for them.

Photo Memories

There were so many beautiful memories from that evening that we’ve captured a few in this short video below. 

Thank You

Huge thanks go to all the families who have trusted us over the last 10 years, and to all those that have supported us, and all those who joined us to celebrate. You showed up, took part in our procession, shook instruments, cried, sang, laughed, dined and danced with us – we couldn’t have done it without you.

And, just like a funeral this was a team event – so to all those on the night – thank you. …

Rev David Warbrick for welcoming us so warmly into All Saints
Angela and team at All Saints Centre for all their help and support
Carole at Tuckshop Flowers
Suzy Nash – for painting such a beautiful coffin
Babatunde Live – for their fabulous drumming
Bethany Kay – for her beautiful singing
Lauren Elliott – for her stunning harp playing
Emma Dunleavy-Dale, Kathryn Day, Ruth Jewell – for their support, insights and help on the day
Set and Match for printing the A4 pictures and Orders of Ceremony
Change Kitchen for their incredibly tasty food
Lee from Lee Allen Photography for the beautiful procession and church photos
Dave Travis for his photos at the Death Disco
The Hare and Hounds for hosting the Death Disco
Dave Thompson of Dave Thompson Logistics for helping bring in and set up techincal stuff in the church and Robannas Studios for providing the big screen.

Rachel and Jayne Duncan for talking so brilliantly in front of everyone

Ghie Berry, Rob Grady, Jo Hindley, Pauline Grace and Kelly-Anne McNally for letting us video them and share their stories.

and of course the rest of the A Natural Undertaking team for helping deliver and support this event, and for your ongoing support and commitment to us and the families every day ….

Suzy Nash
Kerri Dunn
Lee Bradbury
Kai ‘Xander’ Alexander
Ian Glover
Carl Davies
Joe Bates
Rowan Edwards