News of Old Girls
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Jane McCausland (1967-72) - takes up second career as a Civil Celebrant
‘CELEBRATING’ RETIREMENT I was at the Girls High School from 1967, leaving at 16 to study Industrial Design at the Colchester Institute. After a brief career in Kitchen Design, I joined my father’s business as an administrator – taking the opportunity to further my studies culminating in a BA in Business Studies. I had continued to be interested in Art and Design however and, in 1984, had the opportunity to join a small advertising agency in Colchester – Woods Barden Associates. This was run by three partners and specialised in advertising and publicity for commercial businesses, including EEV and what was then Eastern Electricity.
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Originally starting in Media Planning - designing and booking advertising campaigns in the trade press - I became an account manager, overseeing complete advertising and PR campaigns. I was responsible for Press Relations, interviewing clients and writing technical articles and press releases
for the UK and international press. After becoming a partner in the firm in the 1990s, I eventually took over the business in 1999 and moved it from East Street, Colchester, to a purpose-built office in the grounds of my home in Stanway. I enjoyed the added flexibility of being close to home and in 2004, when I brought home my precious Shih Tzu puppy, Bertie, it meant I could always have him in the office with me. At this stage, I was mainly concentrating on PR. The advertising and marketing business was changing fast with the development of social media and, in what is really a young person’s business, I began to feel a bit at the end of my sell-by date.
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Over the years I had helped friends and family with writing eulogies for funerals, and even creating a private burial service for an uncle at the Green Burial Ground ‘Oakfield Wood’ in Wrabness. However, it was when my father died two years ago, that a passing interest became a life-changing opportunity. Like many families these days, we were not practising Christians and my mother did not want a religious funeral service. On the other hand, my father had been a prominent member of the Freemasons and I had promised him that I would make sure that his final funeral service would be one to remember! My mother asked my brother and I if we would take care of the arrangements and we duly contacted a local funeral director to take care of the whole process. Saying we did not want a Minister to conduct the service, we didn’t really know what the alternative would be – perhaps imagining that one of the staff from the funeral directors would do the honours.
It was then that I first heard the term Civil Celebrant, and discovered that this was an independent professional that specialised in the writing and delivering of non-religious funeral services. We were recommended to a local lady celebrant, Sally Band, who offered to take my father’s funeral and we worked together on creating a ceremony that he would have been proud of. His local Masonic friends formed a guard of honour as the coffin entered the chapel and the many freemasons in the audience sang the Masonic hymn. Sally presented the whole service, apart from the eulogy which I had written and wanted to read myself.
It was after this that I began to consider becoming a Civil Celebrant myself. It would not only give me the opportunity to use the skills I had developed in my career to date – interviewing, writing and presenting – I could help families create a final celebration for their loved ones that did not necessarily involve religion. After looking at the various training courses available, I decided to enrol on the Civil Ceremonies Level 3 Diploma in Funeral Celebrancy, which was a combination of distance learning and residential study. Civil Ceremonies is run by Anne Barber, who was instrumental in promoting civil celebrancy in the UK.
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History of Civil Celebrancy
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The civil celebrancy movement and profession began in Australia in 1973 under an initiative by Attorney-General Lionel Murphy, who brought in legislation allowing civil celebrants to conduct marriages. At that time the options were essentially either a religious or a civil ceremony, the latter designed just to cover the required legal formalities without a spiritual or personalised element. The number of celebrants started to grow, although the development of the movement was far from straightforward. It faced opposition from various quarters, including feminists (many of whom were against marriage as an institution). When some celebrants began conducting funerals, there was even division within the movement itself. Other obstacles included a cap on fees, making the profession almost unviable as a way to earn a living, the appointment of too many civil celebrants and ensuring quality of standards. Gradually, however, as society in Australia and elsewhere changed, so civil celebrancy became more accepted. A desire to move away from the traditional vows and ceremonies offered by the church contributed to an increased demand for funeral ceremonies officiated by civil celebrants.
Since its inception, civil celebrancy has spread to many countries across the world. In the UK today, about half of families choose a civil funeral and this trend is still growing. Today, when a Funeral Director arranges a funeral, the Funeral Arranger will have a number of Celebrants – both male and female – that they will match with the bereaved family. The Celebrant will then make an extended visit to the family to discuss the arrangements for the ceremony, the music, readings and any hymns or prayers. Plus find out as much about the deceased person in order to create a truly personalised tribute.
It is a great job - the ability to help support a grieving family and provide a lasting tribute to their loved one, including a Presentation Script featuring all elements of the ceremony.
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