Alistair Lomax - Celebrant
I am available in the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and the South West.
I’d always been the one in the family to make the speeches: special occasions, dinners, parties. Mostly times of joyful celebration and positive transition; a significant birthday or graduation, but also the sad ones and funerals.
My natural ability as a public speaker is informed by my training as a professional musician (Royal Northern College of Music), and it was honed as a charity CEO and higher education leader. I would be invited to facilitate board awaydays or to speak at conferences and dinners. My written work has been published in the Guardian and Spectator and I am at ease in front of the cameras.
A varied career in charity and higher education leadership, as well as my creativity and flair, combine to offer a service that is individually tailored as well as being well organised and reliable. I have been CEO of two educational charities as well as working closely with celebrity Vice-Chancellor, Sir Anthony Seldon, for six years (together we toured the world attending events and ceremonies and raising funds).
The unthinkable happened when my dad, David, died unexpectedly. Life without him was unimaginable. I acted as the celebrant at his funeral, writing and delivering the eulogy, with standing room only. To my surprise, as well as being one of the most challenging, I found it to be one of the most satisfying experiences of my life.
As well as being our Dad, David Lomax was a celebrated and loved public figure having worked as a BBC reporter during the golden years of current affairs journalism.
A bright light shone on our grief, as we dealt with obituary writers and those whom his prolific and humane work for the BBC had touched. The realisation of the breadth of his influence added an interesting dimension to our own grief. I realised that it is only at a time of death that all the fragments of a person’s life converge and it is through telling stories, ceremony and celebration that we are able to see the whole person, perhaps for the first time.
Gathering input from everyone and weaving it into a eulogy that would express our love and respect was a formative experience. More than anything it was this experience that led to my decision to embark on a (late) career as a professional celebrant, undertaking my training with the International College of Professional Celebrants.
My time is now divided between rural Gloucestershire, and Oxford. I love spending time with family and my three kids, walking with Joe the Collie, sailing and any form of boating.
