Victoria Vernon | Funeral Celebrant

Hello, my name is Victoria Vernon, my home is in Tamworth Staffordshire where I live with my husband Barry – when he is not out playing golf and our three affectionate cats who think they own the house. I have one son Dominic who lives in Canterbury. I have recently retired having spent 39 years in teaching. For the last 29 years I was a head teacher of a special school, the last 7 years of my career were as an executive head teacher running the two special schools and assessment nursery in Tamworth. I was extremely proud of my schools and in every Ofsted report we achieved the ‘Outstanding’ accolade. My job gave me great satisfaction; I was working closely with pupils aged 2 – 18 years and their families.

The pupils had very different needs ranging from children with profound multiple disabilities who were terminally ill through to pupils with very challenging behaviours who were likely to spend time in Her Majesty’s hotel at a later date !! In my spare time I am an active member of Soroptimists International, an organisation that creates opportunities to transform the lives of women globally and to lead on projects such as education, health & the rights of women. I love flowers and regularly do the arrangements at my local hospice. I love to enter flower competitions and I do demonstrations to raise money for local charities. For relaxation I go from one extreme to another, you will either find me at the Birmingham Royal Ballet, chilling while watching perfection or shouting my head off at Molineux watching the Wolves missing yet another goal. It was due to my involvement with the pupils with life limiting conditions that I was often asked to contribute to the child’s funeral and write and deliver the eulogy.

These children were all so special and unique that whatever I wrote had to come from the heart not a text book. Some of the children could not see, speak or walk yet I had to convey their individual personality and the love that they had given to all of us. It was a privilege and honour to be asked by the parents to do this. It is through this experience that I am now embarking on a new career as a Secular Funeral Celebrant. I want to help people in their time of need to prepare and deliver a unique service which will be personal, meaningful and heartfelt.

 

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