Corinne Firth-Surkitt - Funeral Celebrant

22/10/2025

Friends of Serenity are such a valuable local charity in my area , they support recently bereaved parents and families. In my work I come across families receiving the most incredible care from them, so when I spotted thos week their appeal for runners to do the Blackburn 10k it felt right to put myself forward.

I will be running that day with the babies whose stories I have told in my thoughts because it is important that their names live on way after we leave their funeral behind.

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, a just giving page link , the cover photo is one of me doing thunder run a few years back , I have a fox emblem on my running vest as our group were called - zero fox given as displayed on my race number

Help corinne Firth-Surkitt raise money to support Friends of Serenity

20/10/2025

Blackburn sax player anyone ?

HELP!

CALLING ALL SAXOPHONE PLAYERS!!

We are taking out a funeral that requires a saxophone player to play as the cortege pages their entrance to the crematorium grounds, and as the family walks into Chapel

The funeral is on

WEDNESDAY 29TH OCTOBER, PLEASINGTON CREMATORIUM 12:45

Please share to anyone who may be in a position to assist!

Thank you xx

20/10/2025

What stories will the people you leave behind hand over for your funeral.

I already know that no matter how old he is at the time my son is going to tell the story of when I bit his ear 😂😂😂

In my defence I was pretending and was close to him saying I'm going to eat your ears , nom nom nom and then caught his ear with my teeth. In the years since then I have done so many incredible things with him, holidays , trips, days out, started traditions at home, been there, encouraged him, supported him and loved him....

But at my funeral he will tell everyone about the time I bit him !
And do you know what , I'm OK with that because hopefully the rest of his childhood will have a positive spin.

A well planned funeral where those left behind get to have these stories told is an incredible comfort and a huge part of the grieving process

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, block capitals saying - based on a true story

19/10/2025

Once a fortnight , OK i admit it maybe sometimes once a week I'm very lazy and go and get my lunch from The Spud House which is half a mile from home so I could totally just go home and make lunch. So, this Thursday I had finished a funeral and the lazy vibes hit me so I nipped in , Ed sheerans Galway girl was playing and we were all singing along in the shop and I said , oooh I'm going to Dublin for the day tomorrow I will take a picture on Grafton Street and tag you ! So , good to my word , here I am

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, 3 photos, one is a selfie of me , one is of one of the many famous Grafton street flower stalls and then there is one of the street itself

15/10/2025

Wave of light 2025

Late posting as got caught on the phone but our houses candle has burned bright since 7pm to remember so many precious babies

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, a blue candle in a jar in my window sill

14/10/2025

Not every funeral has a colour scheme but if it does I try and fit in, yesterday 2 had colour schemes, pink for a lady who loved the colour and later in the day blue and white for a Blackburn Rovers fan.

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired , 2 photos of ribbons pinned to my Humanists UK symbol broach.

09/10/2025

This is something I see in the funeral industry day in day out.

So many of my colleagues are stood alongside me as we begin the service , dressed smartly, respectful, comforting, uplifting when needed and caring - and many of them have barely seen their bed the night before due to being on call.

I'm with crematorium staff who know that they aren't going to get their lunch that day because they will need to keep things on track due to outside issues.

I'm with other Celebrants who are about to go in and deliver a service having just taken a phone call that's thrown their personal life into disarray or devasted them personally.

All this and more happens in the funeral industry every single day , and yet I stand alongside these people being reliable , day in day out. The funeral industry is full of heroes and I'm honoured to know them , call many of them friends and to know that we've all got each others backs.

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, black background with white text, The skill that beats every other skill: doing what you said you'd do. When you said. How you said. Even when you don't feel like it. Especially then. Reliability is so rare it looks like a superpower. Be the person people can count on. It opens every door.

07/10/2025

Direct cremation, OK I will say it , I'm not keen, of course I'm not it's my business to do funeral Ceremonies but it is more than that in all honesty, I promise this isn't just all about my bottom line.

Funerals to me are a vital part of the grieving process and im sadly seeing a future problem being built up with whole sections of people who will have no positive experience or expectations of loss - because a funeral can be positive, even the saddest of funerals has a positive in the way those gathered start to process their feelings. And a rip roaring celebratory funeral really can change people's mindset.

If people do chose a direct cremation please use a local Funeral director, one of the ones whose front door you walk past each day -for all the reasons in the table put together by SAIF independent funeral directors . Spending money in our local community is never a bad thing, keeping local businesses on our highstreet is never a bad thing , in lots of other things we wouldn't dream of using a company hundreds of miles away when we have a company on our doorstep.
But emotionally knowing where your person is , knowing a person who lives near you is with them and caring for them can be invaluable.

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, a table of yes and no answers for various parts of the direct cremation process, showing that staying local means you have a much more transparent process.

05/10/2025

My work takes me all over the Northwest, I get to many different crematoria, Cemeteries, woodland burial sites but also venues such as the ceremonial parks... and I have to say I do love going over to GreenAcres Living Memorial Parks Rainford site , it's honestly like checking into an Airbnb the area the Celebrants get to use to brew up in , loved being there again on Friday

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, a selection of photos taken off a kitchen area, including my brew and a kit kat

01/10/2025

Was lovely to get an invite to Scales Funeral Directors, Blackburn birthday party to celebrate 130 years of serving the people of Blackburn. Brews,cakes and balloons ! Was great to see Celebrant colleague Jill Bolton - Funeral Celebrant too.

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, a photo of 3 glamorous woman with 3 massive blue helium balloons in the shape 1, 3 and 0 for the 130 years

💙 Thank You for Celebrating With Us! 💙

We would like to thank everyone who joined us for Scales Funeral Directors’ 130th Birthday Celebration on Darwen Street.

It was a truly special afternoon, sharing stories, memories, tea, and cake together with the families and community who have been at the heart of our history since 1895. ☕🍰

Your support means so much, and it was wonderful to reflect on over a century of service while looking forward to the future. ✨

Here’s to many more years of care, compassion, and community at the heart of Blackburn.

— Christine & The Scales Team

29/09/2025

On Friday I went down to The Bureau - Centre for the Arts to see the Speak Their Name quilt before it moved on to London. I have seen the Yorkshire Speak Their Name in Leeds so wanted to see the one for our local community here in the Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council area. It was a wonderful peace of art to enable families bereaved by suicide to communicate freely about their person

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, a selection of photos of panels from the quilt and the person they were made for along with accompanying posters and literature

26/09/2025

Was lovely to spend some time down at Co-op Funeralcare this morning for their Macmillan Cancer Support coffee morning... stuff like this is made for me, I get to eat cake and feel good about it because its for charity !

Humanist Ceremonies
Photo description for the visually impaired, photos of the inside of the building decorated in the branding of Macmillan, with tea and cake too