CPJ Field

16/06/2026

Meeting a funeral celebrant for the first time can feel like a step into the unknown. What happens? What will they ask? What if you're not sure what you want?

We asked Beth MacLeod Celebrant, an independent celebrant we work closely with, to talk it all through, from where you'll meet, to choosing music and readings, to the small personal touches that make a ceremony unmistakably someone's own.

If you've ever wondered what really happens, we hope this puts your mind at ease.

Read the full guide, linked in the comments.

12/06/2026

The little things matter. Our Deric Scott colleagues keeping the gardens at Portman Lodge a calm and welcoming place for local families 🌷

The gardens at Portman Lodge are looking their best 🌸

Bedding plants in and lawns freshly cut. You’re always welcome to pop in and say hello.

04/06/2026

At our most recent Knit & Craft Never Alone coffee morning, we welcomed a very special guest. Chris from the Children with Cancer Fund came along to see our group making knitted worry buddies by hand.

Every one has a small pocket sewn in, so a child can tuck a worry or a wish inside and keep it safe. These worry buddies have now been donated to the Children With Cancer Fund , and we hope each child loves theirs and holds it close.

Want to get involved? Our next group is this Monday, 10am to 12pm, at Haine & Son, 46 South Road, Hailsham, BN27 3JL. ☕🧶

www.never-alone.co.uk

28/05/2026

If you're worried about the cost of a funeral, you're not alone.

Around one in seven families in the UK struggle with funeral costs, and there's no shame in talking about it.

The important thing to remember is that there is no single “right” kind of funeral. Every family is different, and every farewell is too. What matters most is that it feels right for the person being remembered and for those left behind.

If money is a worry, please tell us early. We'll talk you through the costs clearly and help you find an approach that works for your family.

And if it helps to read something first, Jeremy Field has written a short piece on funeral costs and the support that's there when money is tight. Link in comments.

25/05/2026

Burial or cremation. It's one of the biggest decisions a family makes after someone dies, and it often has to be made fast, by people who are grieving and aren't always sure what the person would have wanted.

Jeremy Field has written about how to think it through. The wishes left behind, the cost, the religious considerations, and the rise of younger families now choosing burial for environmental reasons. And why there is no "perfect" decision, just the right one for your family.

Read it here:

https://www.cpjfield.co.uk/articles-and-features/key-considerations-when-choosing-between-burial-or-cremation/

23/05/2026

Twenty-two knitted buddies, handed to the crew at Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service this week.

They're called Trauma Buddies. Small, soft, made to fit in a child's hand. When the fire service is called out to a house fire, a road accident, or any incident that leaves a child shaken, a Buddy goes with them. Something to hold. Something to take home afterwards. A way of saying you're not alone.

Each one was knitted by our Never Alone Knit & Natter group in Aylesbury.

If you'd like to be part of what they do, Knit & Natter meets every Wednesday, 10:30am to 1pm, at Foxhill Indoor Bowls Club, Aylesbury Sports Ground, 86 Wendover Road, Aylesbury HP21 9NJ. Anyone is welcome, beginners included.

For more, email [email protected] or call 07879 556925.

14/05/2026

One of the questions we sometimes hear in pre-planning conversations is not about hymns or coffins. It is about the dog waiting at home.

Recently, Nick Skilton visited our East Sussex colleagues to talk about The Cinnamon Trust , a charity supporting older people, those with terminal illness, and their pets. Their volunteers help with everyday care, support during hospital stays, and even provide lifelong care for pets who outlive their owners.

For anyone worried about what might happen to a much-loved pet, it is a comforting charity to know exists.

Thank you to Nick, and to his labrador, for coming in.

Find out more: cinnamon.org.uk

13/05/2026

The day the Princess met the Buddies.

Maria Butler runs our Never Alone groups in Buckinghamshire. On Friday, she was at Buckingham Palace, invited to a Royal Garden Party for her work tackling loneliness in the community.

She spoke to the Princess of Wales about social prescribing, how the Buddies came about, and the difference they're making for the people who knit them as much as the people who find them.

The Buddies are part of Never Alone , our free community programme, made by our Knit & Natter groups across the South East. People knit them, then leave them in places where someone who needs comfort might find them. Each one carries the same message.

You are not alone.

Maria took some with her. Three went home with the Princess of Wales, one for each of her children. The rest are still out there. On a park bench, on a café table, on the corner of a bus stop. Waiting for whoever needs them.

Learn more about Never Alone at www.never-alone.co.uk

10/05/2026

Some thoughts wait years before they’re said out loud. Some never are.

Today is the last day of Dying Matters Awareness Week. This year’s theme is Let’s Talk About Death and Dying, a conversation worth having.

What helps families most isn’t a perfect plan. It’s a few things only you can answer, with the people you love in mind.

Whether you’d want to be buried or cremated, what kind of service if any, where any ashes might go, anything you really wouldn’t want.

If there's one thing you do this Sunday, tell someone what you'd want, ask them what they might need, and write it down.

Because when the time comes, those conversations become a gift. For them.

If you’d like a place to start, we’ve pinned our wishes form in the comments section below.

08/05/2026

Raymond Silence was a fireman. He retired in 1962, as Station Officer at Reigate.

More than sixty years later, the service came back for him. The brass helmet sat on his coffin. They remembered.

Some bonds don't end when you hand back the uniform.