Sentiment - Video and photo montage production

On Monday I went to a seminar by Dr Bill Webster from Greif Journeys, it was held in the Chiltern Woodland Burial Park and sponsored by Arnolds Funeral Service  and Golden Charter

 I love Chiltern Woodland Burial Park, I love the energy, the feel, the design of the buildings, and the fact it is so welcoming and beautiful so  you can just turn up  for a nice walk in the woodland.

 As I sat listening to Bill explaining that if we start to really understand someone’s loss then we can begin to understand their grief, I watched  2 squirrels chasing each other up and down the trees,  the birds flying round outside and the sunshine through the trees – sound corny? yes maybe I do, but it was  beautiful and what I feel the woodland is about- death, life, nature, peace, comfort

 I feel that the woodland brings a certain element of peace to suffering souls - loved ones will never come back  and that’s by far the one thing we want most ,  but somehow being so close to nature sends a a blanket of comfort and peace… or maybe that’s just me being sentimental! 

 Dr Bill Webster is a captivating speaker, he had a great analogy of loss being like a lined up of dominions – you lose your husband and bit by bit there is domino effect where you lose so many more elements of life, from having a cup of tea in bed every morning to your independence, lifestyles, home and even possessions. When you understand the elements of someones loss and underand that life will never ever be the same for that person again then you understand that  there is no time scale for their grief to subside, and we cannot expect people to start to ‘ just get on with life’ after 6 months…

 After Bills talk there was a horse drawn cart waiting outside with 2 stunning white horses to take  everyone round the woodland – I opted out of this due to the fact I may give birth any second and didn’t think a horse and carriage would be a great idea – and if I’m honest I’d see the spread of cakes that was laid out in the  that the gathering hall and rushed in to taste what was possibly the best Victoria sponge i have had!  - I proceeded to eat like only a heavily pregnant can get away with!

I have been waiting to visit the new Chiltern Woodland burial Park since it opened up in November. In fact when I heard there was one opening up I just wanted to burst with excitement! Our area was crying out for a good woodland burial park and when I found out it was the same organisation as Epping forest then I knew it was going to be great!

I decided to take my daughter along to see it, she’s only 2 and a half and I thought she could run around and get some fresh air while we wondered round the woodland chatting to Fran Hall the site manager. The development is still very new, none of the buildings are finished, there’s some construction work going on and the office is a portacabin! However, you instantly see right through the imperfections. The woodland is just breath taking, it’s beautiful, its perfect and its development is Unanimous. I don’t want to seem as all hippy dippy about it, but I can’t help but be overwhelmed at how wonderful the woodland is. Its energy and its beauty is consuming.

The buildings are beautifully designed – still unfinished but judging by the photos of Epping forest buildings then they will be nothing but harmonious with the woodland surroundings. Fran gave me an insight into creativity and spiritualism reflected in the architecture of the wooden buildings. (it’s something I feel is impossible for interpret back to you but will seek out more info about it to pass on)

Fran is lovely, she was a funeral directors for 6 years and understands how hard it is to prove yourself as a young woman in the male dominated funeral industry so naturally we got on well and connect over our vision and the drive for the future of the funeral industry . You can instantly see why Fran and her team will make the woodlands a home for everyone who comes to visit. She is open and accommodating to all ideas as long as it respectful to the woodland.

I can’t wait to see the park complete in the spring. I just want to take people, clients, friends and family to see it. Show them that it’s not such a dark, morbid and scary place as their mind sees! I’ve spoken to friends and mums & dads at the pre-school gates about this fantastic place and they look at me as if I am some crazy weird woman – I mean who the hell gets over excited about a burial ground? I just want to say, hey come and see for yourself, it’s amazing, It’s beautiful, its tranquil and it’s the way forward.

In truth, walking into the woodland last week gave made me realise why I was so excited about this place – the woodland makes death more acceptable, even beautiful. It lifts a layer of taboo, peels back the shade hiding the reality of death and tackles the stigma attached to the processes.

Maybe this is the first step to cracking the great British way of ‘not wanting to think about or deal with death’.