To be the best – Kate and Kate awarded top UK honour
Local women Kate Tym and Kate Dyer scooped as prestigious national award on Saturday night when they were crowned Funeral Celebrants of the Year at The Association of Green Funeral Directors, Good Funeral Awards 2019.
They were uncommonly lost for words when the award was announced later saying: “This really is an enormous accolade and one of which we are both very proud.”
“We’re absolutely thrilled to bits. It really feels like validation of years of hard work, really trying to change the face of funerals locally,” says Kate Dyer.
“There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach with us,” adds Kate Tym, “we are passionate about tailoring each ceremony perfectly to the person who has died and to those who will be attending. There’s no right or wrong, it’s whatever works for them.”
“Funerals aren’t fun,” says Kate D, “and we’re not trying to make light of what is a really tough situation. But we are trying to find a way to make the funeral a useful part of the grieving process, to make it individual and meaningful and to really represent the person who has died.”
“It was amazing to be in the final running for the award and even more so when we went along and were in room full of the great and the good from the funeral industry. There are loads of people out there from Funeral Directors to end-of-life Doulas who are working really hard to promote choice for funerals and we were really proud to be in amongst them,” says Kate T.
The awards ceremony was at Port Lympne, where the women were able to catch up with some familiar faces and make some new connections too.
“We’re so obsessed with funerals we just love meeting people from other areas of the industry and finding out new ways of doing things,” says Kate D. “We’ve worked as funeral celebrants for nearly four years now – and wedding celebrants for over 12 – and, right from day one, we felt absolutely driven to make our approach to creating ceremonies absolutely bespoke.”
“When families come to us directly, we’re able to talk them through all their choices from a celebration of life at their local crematorium through to a gathering in a barn, village hall or hotel,” says Kate T.
“Changing the venue really changes the atmosphere,” she continues. “you’re able to take your time, there’s no break in the flow of the day and the person who has died can be completely central to proceedings. It may sound odd, but we absolutely love what we do – it is so rewarding – and when people find out that there are no ‘rules’ around end-of-life celebrations and we can help them to do whatever they would like to truly honour the person who has died, we can see how much that means to them and that’s what it’s all about.”
If you’d like to get in touch with Kate and Kate you’ll find more information on their website www.kateandkatecelebrants.co.uk or can email at kateandkatecelebrants@gmail.com or phone Kate Tym 07985295373 or Kate Dyer 07790128592
