Talking about death is one of the most positive, oddly life-affirming things we can do, and expressing what we want to happen at the end of our life is a practical act of love towards the people we leave behind. So why do so few of us actually do it? What is it that is stopping us?

Up and down the country, progressive celebrants, undertakers, end of life doulas and death educators are coming together to tackle the image that most people have of funerals as something dark, solemn, sombre and formal. We’re showing the way forward, rather than staying stuck in the past. Just because things were always done a certain way, that doesn’t mean we cant change that, and we can’t get creative. The modern funeral is here.