Hayley Pickering Funeral Celebrant

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*****

30/08/2025

Motorbikes always make my hairs stand on end at a funeral, the collective raw of the engines and the gathering of fellow bikers is always very moving and certainly appreciated by the grieving. I very nearly ended up in a holly bush whilst filming this, luckily I avoided such a calamity! 🙄🏍️

19/08/2025

August 19th - World Photo Day
Photos have always been one of my greatest joys in life and I feel so lucky to have as many as I do of myself and my family and friends.

From as early as I can remember I’ve loved looking through photographs, I had my own camera from about the age of seven and I treasure every photo taken, years worth, all printed out and in albums.

Now I have so many happy and memorable times to look back on, my school friends know they can call on me for horrors of our classroom antics and school discos!

I have my Grandads collection, he was always the one with the camera, I have countless photos of his army days and wartime service.

My children must be the photographed children since Prince’s William and Harry, every Christmas, birthday and milestone.

I quite often sit with a pile of photos and lose myself for a few hours.

They are also one of my favourite parts of Celebrancy. A family sharing the pictures of their lives, their loved ones captured for eternity is an honour and I’ll never tire of that privilege💗

09/08/2025

22/07/2025

Connie Francis and Ozzy Osbourne in the space of a week. RIP.

A sign that as we grow older, so do they.

Two completely different talents.
Equally as amazing in their own right 🕊️💔

‘When you remember me,
it means that you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who lam on who you are.
It means that you can summon me back to your mind.
It means that even after I die,
you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart.’

Frederick Buchner

14/07/2025

A lovely little addition in remembrance of a much loved Mum who’s family wanted a little something extra special for those attending the service💙

Those we love don’t go away
They walk beside us every day
Unseen, unheard but always near
Still loved, still missed and very dear.