I hold the highest possible qualifications in celebrancy in the UK – NOCN Level 3 Diploma in Celebrancy – Naming & Couples and two NOCN Level 3 Diplomas in Funeral Celebrancy – which means I have been rigorously assessed for my skill and suitability as a Celebrant. I was trained by the leading industry providers, Civil Ceremonies Ltd and Green Fuse. I hold a current DBS certificate, am fully insured for public liability and professional indemnity, and am a member of the Association of Independent Celebrants and Institute of Civil Funerals. Overall, this means you can have every confidence in me to create and deliver an appropriate and unique ceremony with sensitivity and empathy.
I am an ordained Interfaith Minister, skilled listener and able to deliver any spiritual or religious content in your ceremony with authority and gravitas. Compassionate counsellor and minister, I am able to hold and support people through their most emotionally charged times of their lives. In addition, I hold CPCAB L2 Person-centred counselling, have participated in Fundamentals of Re-evaluation counselling and the Compassion Course non-violent communication training with the New York Centre for NVC. I practice Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (Palouse), I am a trained Flower Essence Therapy Practitioner and have practiced Reiki I & II with Barbara McGregor since way back in the 1990’s.
You can find out more on the Register for One Spirit Interfaith Ministers here: https://www.onespiritinterfaithministers.com/andrea-c-smith
I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. I hold a first class honours degree in Arts & Festival Management, have a background as a Steiner Waldorf Kindergarten Teacher, and have undergone safeguarding and events training. After becoming a recipient of a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship, I introduced the Art of Mentoring and 8 Shields to the UK and have joined in Village Building & Peacemaking trainings in the US and Europe over many years.
Experienced in holding ritual and ceremony, my background also includes organising community camps and deep nature connection facilitation influenced by Starhawk’s Earth Activist Training, Permaculture Design and Bushcraft & Survival/Wilderness Spirit Philosophy training with Trackways. I also used to be a volunteer for Forest School Camps. From this you can see that I am very at home conducting ceremonies outdoors in woodland, wilderness or festival settings!
As a professional, I strive to be at the leading edge of my industry and list below some of my recent continued professional development :
- Tending Grief within Community, Helpers Mentoring Society
- Refreshing & Enhancing Funeral Ministry skills, Ceremony Matters
- Introduction to Soul Midwifery, The Soul Midwives School
- Foundation of Ritual training, Ancestral Medicine
- Die Wise: Making Meaning at the End of Days, Stephen Jenkinson
I have two grown up daughters and live in south-east central London. In my spare time I love to tend my garden and read poetry which often appears in my ceremonies.