Alex Collis Celebrant

10/11/2026

Highly recommend a visit to see this beautiful place 🦢

YOU'RE INVITED!

PUBLIC OPEN DAY AT LAKE VIEW BEREAVEMENT CENTRE

Saturday 21 November 2026
10am – 3pm at Lake View Bereavement Centre, Mepal.

We are delighted to invite everyone to join us for our Public Open Day at Lake View Bereavement Centre.

Whether you're curious to see our beautiful new facilities, would like to understand more about the services we offer, or simply wish to enjoy the peaceful surroundings, we would love to welcome you.

Take a guided tour of our facilities and grounds.

Go behind the scenes! This is a unique opportunity to see areas not normally accessible to the public, gain a greater understanding of the entire cremation process, dispel some of the common myths and misconceptions, and discover what really happens behind the scenes.

Meet our friendly and dedicated team, who will be happy to answer any questions.

Learn more about the cremation process, natural burials and memorial options available.

Enjoy complimentary refreshments and a friendly chat.

We understand that visiting a bereavement centre can feel daunting, which is why we want to provide a welcoming, relaxed and informal opportunity for our community to come along, explore and ask questions.

Everyone is welcome, and there's no need to book, simply pop in at a time that suits you.

We look forward to welcoming you to Lake View. 💚

10/11/2026

It really means a lot when a family takes the time to leave me a review, and this was no exception.

I loved getting to tell S's story, which was filled with adventures and shenanigans, from moving to Southsea aged 16 for the party life and repairing his mohican with sugar water and soap to travelling around Australia in a beaten up VW and getting married on the beach in Byron Bay 🌊 and a whole host of characters he met along the way...

If you're looking for a down to earth, colourful storyteller, get in touch to find out more about how I can help, from writing the script to directing traffic!

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I'm Alex, a Cambridge based creative, colourful celebrant and deathworker with a passion for showing people how funerals can be.

08/11/2026

Talking to a funeral director last week, the conversation turned (as it does) to our own end of life wishes, and specifically how we would want our bodies to be cared for.

Straight away, I said I wouldn't be having a coffin at all, because I wanted to be shrouded.

Up went the funeral director's eyebrow.

"Ah," she said. "I thought you'd say that. That's very unusual."

While she's not wrong, it got me thinking how it's a real shame that shrouding (without a coffin) isn't more widely known about or understood.

Most people don't know that there is no legal requirement in the UK to use a coffin for either burial or cremation.

There are also some amazing makers out there crafting shrouds from natural, sustainable materials, and using age old techniques (I'll tag some in the comments and please add any I've missed).

You can also use what you have at home - heirloom fabrics and pieces that hold special meaning and memories. At my Get Mortal funeral planning party earlier this year, someone had the brilliant idea of using the family picnic blanket...

What about you? Would you rather choose a shroud, and even help make it?

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I'm Alex, a Cambridge based creative, colourful celebrant and deathworker with a passion for showing people how funerals can be.

07/11/2026

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed and inspired after yesterday's farewell to S.

Holding the space was a lot, and I was exhausted by the time I got home, but today I'm reflecting on what a special experience it was to lead that particular funeral.

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I'm Alex, a Cambridge based creative, colourful celebrant and deathworker with a passion for showing people how funerals can be.

📸 by DEAD GOOD SISTERS 💀 Katy & Lindsey Vigurs on Unsplash

It just felt different somehow.

There was a real sense of togetherness... and of lightness in that room. Plus there was lots of colour everywhere you looked.

The format of the ceremony was very different too, and S's voice was everywhere. It wasn't a eulogy or a tribute, it was his story told in his words, through letters and the notes he made while he was in hospital.

At the start, S's friends entered at their own pace as this song played, and gathered around his coffin to finish decorating it...

The coffin was beautiful, and to see it covered with different symbols - stars and moons, armadillos and fire horses - as well as meaningful messages like 'one love'... well, that was something very special indeed 🔥 🐎 🌙

That act of community helped S's friends feel truly connected - to him, to each other, and to the ceremony...

This was my favourite part. Watching as people said goodbye in their own ways.

I talk a lot about the time pressures that come with so many funerals held in a crematorium.

S's funeral was actually held at a crematorium I work in all the time, but yesterday wasn't like anything I'd experienced there before.

More funerals should be like yesterday's. It wouldn't be right for everyone, but it showed exactly what is possible...

It really was a gift and I feel very lucky to have been part of it.

30/10/2026

Overnight, I appear to have somehow turned 52!

Taking the day off to enjoy some birthday shenanigans 🥳

29/10/2026

This might just be the place that changes my mind about cremation...

Lake View has a real sense of peace about it as you look out over the beautiful Fen landscape and wide, open skies. Bonus heron sighting.

The site is a nature reserve and run as sustainably as possible (with electric rather gas cremation).

Plus it has Stanton working there, who is an absolute legend among local chapel attendants.

It was the perfect place to say goodbye to M today, and I'm already looking forward to being back again...

Lake View Bereavement Centre

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I’m Alex, a Cambridge based creative funeral celebrant and death worker, and I help people plan down to earth, personal and colourful goodbyes 🧡

09/10/2026

One in five people are now choosing a direct cremation. The way we say goodbye is changing, and people no longer feel they have to have a traditional funeral.

But having nothing at all - no way of marking someone's death and the huge changes that brings with it - can feel as though something, somehow has been left unresolved.

Even when they chose a direct cremation, you can still hold a funeral. It might just look very different... and that's a good thing.

For B, he wanted a direct cremation but his sister felt she needed a day to say goodbye. We gathered last week to bury his ashes with his grandparents, told stories and decorated the space with plants placed into some of the mugs he'd collected throughout his life.

Simple, brief, but so important and so needed.

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I'm Alex, a Cambridge based humanist celebrant and I love showing people how creative, colourful and joyous funerals can be.

If you're planning a celebration of someone's life, take a look at my pinned post on how to work with me.

These ceremonies can take place anywhere. One of the most beautiful farewells I've ever witnessed was held in the person's back garden, surrounded by all the beauty they'd created.

I love the spontaneity of these gatherings, hearing the laughter and the familiar clink of glasses. As the stories flow, you can see people visibly relax and start to have fun.

Personally I'm very sold on the idea of a communal bonfire with toasted marshmallows...

One of my biggest frustrations as a funeral celebrant is the time issue. Capturing all of who someone was in half an hour (sometimes less) is like trying to comb water...

Holding a separate celebration of life sidesteps all of that. You can slow down and really take your time.

Not feeling rushed matters.

These ceremonies have so much potential for creativity... and getting people involved 🧡

📸 credit to DEAD GOOD SISTERS 💀 Katy & Lindsey Vigurs on Unsplash

When I started as a celebrant seven years ago, this was much more unusual. Then COVID happened, and everything changed. Funerals changed.

What started out as a negative, has - over the past few years - slowly turned into a positive, as people have begun to reclaim funerals and realis