Hayley Pickering Funeral Celebrant

15/11/2025

Yesterday I had the privilege of standing before an enormous crowd as we said goodbye to a very popular, much loved husband, daddy, son, brother, uncle, cousin and friend to so many. Much to his families dismay… he was also a Liverpool supporter!

Taken from us in his prime, so abruptly and unexpectedly. A tragically untimely loss. Over 250 people were in attendance, none of them expected to have to attend such an occasion, each one wishing they weren’t, however every last one feeling compelled to be present.

We laughed at his various antics, we relished in his enthusiasm for life, reminiscing about his upbringing, the mischievous schoolboy who grew into a wonderful father, cherishing every moment of the bond he shared not just with his childhood sweetheart but his whole family.

In these circumstances it is all the more imperative that I get it right! I can’t tell the story of a long life, retirement, old age, a slow and steady decline. A different angle is needed, in these moments I’m not just asking a spouse or child for their recollections… I’m also speaking to parents, their memories, the very people who saw him into world are now seeing him out.

It was heartwarming and heart wrenching from the moment I walked into his home to the moment I led him into a room for the very last time.

A life full of fun and banter!… His Eulogy alone took me best part of four hours to write, picking apart countless memories, moments and stories, it was worth every minute.

Thank you to Ford Mears and Partners Farnborough for entrusting me with this particularly precious role and for your professionalism and dedication as always x

*Hi Hayley, I just wanted to say thank you for the service yesterday. The amount of people who said to me it was honestly like you knew M*** yourself, you were absolutely amazing and we couldn’t have wished for anything more ###*

❤️❤️❤️❤️

09/11/2025

05/11/2025

My Poppy display this year.

Lovely to see all the lamp posts and churches decorated.

Always feel very emotional on Remembrance Sunday. I think possibly my generation could be the last to have had a direct connection with WW1 and WW2 veterans. I really hope that their sacrifices are not forgotten or lost on the next.

Service men and women all over the world are still being affected by current conflicts… it may not hover above our heads on Britain’s green and pleasant land anymore but there are still families that run for shelter in the night, mourn a senseless loss, live on rations… the list goes on.

We will remember them.
We are thinking of them.

03/11/2025

Absolutely cannot stand using an iPad for my services! I’m an old fashioned girl… I like it printed out in front of me and in my trusty folder! Unfortunately, my printer had run out of ink this morning and I didn’t have a back up as thought so I had to resort to reading from this!! Absolutely fine, makes no odds to the actual service or my delivery… I just don’t like it! This, however made me smile! 😃 My iPad has recently become a shared iPad with a teenager… as you can see! Thank goodness it’s only me that saw ‘my’ new screen saver!! Could have been worse!!😅

21/10/2025

Any knitters or crocheters out there willing to help this important cause??
I so wish I could knit/crochet!! My poor ole Nan tried to teach me but there was no hope!!🤣🩷💙

URGENT REQUEST
Our Angel Bears Charity are running extremely low on white/ neutral coloured knitted or crochet hearts.

We need these for our early pregnancy loss packs that we supply to NHS Trusts throughout the UK so families can receive something in memory of their babies no matter how early in the pregnancy they were sadly lost.

If you are able to help us we would be extremely grateful.
The address to send the items to is

Flat 1 Layton Court, Layton Road, Poole, Dorset Bh12 2bl.

This is the only address for our charity.
Thank you so much for your support.
🩷🩵

16/10/2025

I am very much still in Pumpkin and Ghostly Ghouls mode but as October is disappearing before our eyes Armistice Day is looming and is a day and cause never far from my heart.

I usually start wearing my Poppies from the 1st of November until the 11th… (I also decorate the house, can’t help myself!🤷‍♀️).

There is apparently no official time to start and finish. You can of course wear a Poppy anytime throughout the year.

Many people begin wearing their poppy around October 31st or in the first week of November.

The tradition is to stop wearing it after Armistice Day (November 11th) or Remembrance Sunday (the second Sunday in November).

Ultimately, the decision of when to start and stop wearing a poppy is a matter of personal choice.

There are differing opinions, but the most common practice is to wear the poppy on the left side to keep the memory close to your heart.

Wear it with pride, as there is no right or wrong way to wear the symbolic flower.

I recently went to see the Poppies displayed at The Tower Of London to mark the 80th Anniversary of VE Day. I had a toddler last time The Tower displayed Poppies so a day in London was not a thought I relished but always wished I’d seen them.

So glad I got to go this time, it’s a poignant and beautiful display. We also had a Yeoman Warder aka a Beefeater take us on a tour. He was fantastic, very interesting and informative, well worth booking if you ever visit x

15/10/2025

A peaceful and poignant evening was spent at Aldershot Crematorium this evening, where we marked the end of Baby Loss Awareness Week with The Wave Of Light ceremony at 7pm.

I had the honour once again of reading out the names of all the precious children who we remembered with love on this night and always.

Thank you to Morgan and the volunteers at Farnborough Sands for organising this weeks events and memorials, for their tireless efforts and dedication. To the Midwives who stood with us tonight, to them and their teams for their specialist care, for genuinely caring and never forgetting the families and babies they’ve looked after.

To Aldershot Crematorium for accommodating us again this year.

To all the parents and families for sharing the memory of their babies with us💙🩷

Can you see our candles
Burning in the night?
Lights of love we send you
Rays of purest white
Children we remember
Though missing from our sight in honor and remembrance
We light candles in the night
All across the big blue marble
Spinning out in space
Can you see the candles burning
From this human place?
Oh, babies gone before us who taught us perfect love
This night the world lights candles
That you may see them from above
Tonight the globe is lit by love of those who know great sorrow, but as we remember our yesterday's Let's light one candle for tomorrow
We will not forget,
And every year in deep October
On Earth we will light candles
As we remember.

10/10/2025

Hi Hayley I just wanted to say thank you so much for today it was so lovely, everyone said that you were really good and gave a really lovely service.
Thank you for your support as well
M****** ###

01/10/2025

A fresh Autumn 🍂 service to commence October. A new month, you can feel it in the air.

Today’s service was for a model railway enthusiast, a beloved Dad of two daughters the same age as me.

This gent chose all his own music. Fabulous choices if you ask me! It definitely makes the whole experience of arranging a funeral so much easier for those left behind if there is some indication as to what the person we’re bidding farewell to would have liked.

Leave instructions, music choices, poems, readings etc… even if you feel you can’t discuss it, write it down, leave a note somewhere that’ll be obvious when the time comes, leave instructions in your Will or tell a friend.

He was the life and soul at his social club, the only gentleman to enter the Easter bonnet competition with all the ladies! Now reunited with his wife, he’ll be sorely missed x

29/09/2025

A few weeks back I officiated the funeral of a lovely lady aged a fabulous 101💗

When I think of the changes she witnessed, the days we know as history… her very story, it truly amazes me.

She was 18 when war broke out and was put to war work at the munitions factory at Hanworth Air Park. In order to undertake her duties she was given a test to determine her capabilities for working the machinery. It was here that she created a model of a Spitfire from aircraft grade aluminium. Her son in recent years has had it refurbished, the restorer was blown away by the level of craftsmanship and labelled the Spitfire a museum piece. A teenager at the time, she was marked highly and of course got the job!

Just a few years later she met her husband to be. They married in 1945. He was given ten days leave from his service in air sea rescue, however it took him five days to hitch his rides home! He wrote to her, informing her he was coming home and to promptly organise the church service! With a borrowed wedding dress and all their family and friends saving up and gifting their food coupons… their wartime wedding took place.

With her new husband due to return to his position directly after, married life together had to wait almost a year.

It’s a difficult situation to imagine today, however I’m sure, went a long way to building the resilience and stoicism that came with being a member of her great generation.

The likes of which are sadly dwindling and I doubt we’ll ever see again.

I’ve always felt so grateful and proud to have a direct connection to that generation. I hold a deep sense of who they were and what they stood for in me and I hope I can, in turn, pass that on to my children x

16/09/2025

Dear Hayley,
My apologies for not saying this sooner but now I have less on my mind and I’m able to think more clearly… may I say a big thank you to you for the service on Monday. I've lost count of the number of people who complimented me on how good they thought it was, mum would have been very pleased.

Best Rgds
S*****