Penney Percival | Funeral Celebrant

"When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure."

After losing both parents and a sibling in quick succession, it took a long time to process the grief. I’d worked with my family to produce our mum’s eulogy, with me delivering it in the crem on the day. It wasn’t my first time speaking in public, a previous career in sales had led to much of that.

This was different though. Saying those words of tenderness and humour about a woman who’d meant so much to me, in front of a sea of faces I knew… yet I didn’t see the faces, I was working hard to keep it together. Thus my journey into celebrancy had begun.

Thank you for visiting my profile; my compassion is extended for your loss. A funeral celebrant living in and working primarily around Manchester I will consider travelling further afield, so feel free to reach out if you’re reading this from elsewhere and feel I’d be able to meet your needs.

Your needs are my primary focus, from the first visit to find out about your loved one, to the ceremony delivered on the day. Of course we take the wishes of your loved one into account, it’s about them after all, though I work in to create that final space to say goodbye and thereby begin the long journey into allowing life to meld back together in its new shape.

That’s certainly how my journey progressed. The writing and delivering of my mum’s eulogy had lighted something within me, though I wasn’t quite sure what.

Hearing about Soul Midwives – people who work with those at the end of life to provide emotional and spiritual support – I felt a calling, so did the training. It is indeed highly rewarding work, though quite niche, so not really a full-time pursuit.

When covid hit and I was suddenly going to lots of funerals, I’d pay attention to the funeral celebrant and the dots started to join: I could do this. It feels natural, like something I was born to do.

Meeting bereaved families, hearing them talk about the one they’ve lost – usually, but not always, with love and sadness, then taking that info to weave into words which form a reasonably accurate picture of their lives; well, that feels like a privilege.

Whilst teaching in China I was very active in the local creative writing scene, hosting and performing my own work. These skills are very useful as a funeral celebrant. I also hosted a live-stream radio show for a while, which involved writing a script with very strict timings, another skill essential to a good celebrant.

When I said I feel born to do this work I’m not just being poetic; it’s like all my previous life and experiences have been guiding me here. And here you are, reading my words, in your own position of needing assistance and not sure what to do for the best.

A funeral ceremony is highly symbolic, providing the safe and loving space for people to gently say their goodbyes to your loved one, allowing the healing process to begin.

Whatever your relationship with the deceased, be it loving or less-so, this marks the time in which you begin to slip into the next phase of getting used to life without them being around.

Whilst I can’t promise you sunshine and rainbows, I can promise to do my best to make sure we send your loved one off in the most fitting way. Led by you, according to their wishes, however feels most appropriate.

I am ready to hear from you.
Penney Percival, funeral celebrant in Chorlton, Altrincham, Sale, Oldham and more.

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."