Simon Hodkin Humanist Funerals and Namings Celebrant

My Dad wished for a natural burial, and as an agnostic did not want any form of religious influences for his farewell. Although not a humanist, after researching, my Mum & I felt his life did align more to the humanist approach and so chose Simon to perform my Dads farewell.
At such a difficult time, Simon gently discussed with my Mum & I my Dads personality, and with ease gathered information and wrote a thoughtful & beautiful farewell.
On the day, Simon conducted the farewell, perfectly, with great sensitivity, but also interjecting a little humour. Thank you Simon,
Claire from Kilve

I can’t quite find the right words to express (and we, a family of words), just how utterly perfect Simon was for us and Dad.

I was fortunate enough to hear a recommendation of him and having interviewed and met two other ‘celebration of life’ celebrants, I recalled Humanist ceremonies I had been to before, and how much more professional and graceful they had seemed, compared to what I was so far experiencing.

When you have lost someone you love so dearly, every tiny thing matters, and Simon knew that. He was perfect in every way. He was interested, gracious, curious – he even made me smile when my heart was breaking. He did his homework. It felt like he knew Dad and we were the only ceremony that mattered to him.

Both before and during the ceremony, he represented Dad perfectly, delivering his story with humility, grace and humour. The representation of him was perfect and Simon was the glue that pulled it all together.

I am so grateful we found him. Thank you, thank you. He does his craft justice and I hope many, many other families find him, to do the same for those they loved.

I was given Simon’s name by a friend who Is also a celebrant, but was unable to help us on the day of my Dad’s funeral. I called him and, within a few days, we met up for 2 hours, and talked together about my father and his life. At which point it became clear that Simon and my father had a shared passion for both geology and humanist beliefs, which made me certain that he was absolutely the right person to be Dad’s celebrant. Simon is gentle and has a calm manner. He prompted my thoughts and memories of my Dad through our conversation, and then went away and drafted a personalised story of his life. In addition, he gave appropriate advice on how to organise a humanist tribute and was helpful and responsive throughout the process. He was also very happy for us to do some back and forth editing of his draft until it felt just right.
On the day of the funeral, Simon was very professional and did a fantastic job. I would have no hesitation in highly recommending him.