About Nicola Banning
Everyone has a story, from the big to the small – but the art of being able to tell that story is taking the time to hear it first.
At the heart of my role as a celebrant is my understanding of grief, trauma and attachment – which supports me in my work as I get to know each family and the person they love who has died. It’s my career path that has gifted me with the perfect mix of skills to be a celebrant including event planner, researcher, script writer, attentive listener along with the warmth, compassion and acceptance which I offer to everyone I work with.
I’m often told that I bring a sense of calm and people feel safe enough to talk to me about the big things and the small. It’s by paying careful attention to what I’m hearing that I create a ceremony as unique and individual as the person who has died, with love, beauty and a light touch.
I worked as a radio and tv producer at the BBC for ten years before deciding to retrain as a therapist at the University of Bristol. I then specialised in working as a therapist supporting the public sector workforce for almost 20 years in Gloucestershire. When both my parents died, I helped to craft beautiful funerals which reflected their essence and the unique ways in which they had lived their lives. It was a turning point for me. After the pandemic, I felt it was time for a fresh start and in 2022, I trained with the highly-respected training provider, Green Fuse Training for my diploma in funeral celebrancy and set up Simply Crafted Ceremonies.
Alongside my funeral work I’m also the editor of BACP Workplace, a quarterly journal published by the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy and I’m a writer and regular contributor to professional journals on all aspects of our emotional and psychological health at work.
It’s a privilege to be able do what I do as a celebrant and to be trusted by a family to work so closely with them at such a significant moment in their life. I know that those first days and weeks after the death of someone we love is a time like no other. To hear me talk about my work with families as a celebrant I’ve made a three-minute film.
I have a keen interest in having conversations about our attitudes to death and dying including attending our local Death Cafés co-facilitated by Jane Diamond of Family Tree Funerals, Stroud’s only independent funeral directors. I love my work as a celebrant serving my community in Nailsworth, Stroud and the wider Gloucestershire area.
Qualifications in celebrancy
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Level 3 Diploma in Funeral Celebrancy
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I have both Professional Indemnity and Public Liability Insurance
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I belong to the Dying Matters community, the Good Funeral Guild and I subscribe to the Celebrant Accord.
