It was a shock to find that when I received the call telling me of my mother’s passing, it still came as a great shock.

I thought I was prepared, I believed that we had had enough time to prepare; I was wrong.

Mum’s Dementia had accelerated rapidly in the 6 months prior to her death and in the last months it had started affecting her balance. She was admitted to hospital after a particularly bad fall and for the first few weeks she seemed to be doing so much better, even though she drove Daddy mad with her incessant chatter and organising of the planned ‘birthday celebration’ for him that she believed in her mind was taking place imminently and that she was in charge of. She would become very agitated that she was not going to get everything done in time, and after days of this worrying we would eventually get her to calm down when we told her it had already taken place, and it had been a grand affair. She would smile and say, ‘silly me, look at that I must have forgotten’, at which point she would smile and go off into thought, only to start from the beginning of her planning all over again when she spoke as if the previous conversations had never happened. This went on for two whole weeks.

Sadly, following another fall her health deteriorated rapidly, and she eventually fell into a coma and passed away peacefully at the age of 83.

Whilst in the coma we were informed by the doctors that she probably would not survive and as a family we started to prepare ourselves for the inevitable, but none of us really wanted to look at funeral; in short, we paid the matter lip service. So, with her passing, like many before us, we were thrown into the world of organising one of the most important events of our lives with limited knowledge, even shorter limits of time, hearts full of sorrow and minds that were consumed and clouded by grief and confusion.

Confusion was my biggest stumbling block. There was so much to organise, much of which came out of the blue on a daily basis, and confusion led to errors and error led to increased pressure, stress and guilt. I became very frustrated; really, as a family what we wanted to do was concentrate on saying goodbye to our mother and help dad and ourselves manage our grief.

I found myself constantly thinking in my frustration why there wasn’t just one place that you could go to that could advise you clearly on all aspects that needed to be carried out, and if necessary, help you with the organisation of the whole funeral event not just parts of it? I found that right up to the day of her funeral I asked myself that question many times and I could not get it out of my head.

We organised a lovely send off for Mum, but the confusion had taken its toll and there were areas that we could have done so much better had we had clearer thoughts, direction and knowledge. I looked around after Mum’s funeral to see if such a thing as a ‘Funeral Planner’ similar to a wedding planner existed, only to find that it did not.

There were numerous sites that offered advice, and organisations that individually offered large parts of the services needed, such as the Funeral Directors, but there was no organisation that someone who was recently bereaved or knew that a bereavement was imminent and had little knowledge about organising a funeral could turn to that would clearly outline all the things needed and plan and organise the event with them.

And that is when the idea came to me to launch such as service so that others would not have to go through this confusing chapter.

My background for the past 30 years had been a management consultant, helping companies carve systems and structures. I was so angry that this type of service didn’t exist, and I felt that it would not be vastly difficult to form. So, I put that hat on and explored if such a company were to exist, what would be the requirements and the company structure. After completing the exercise, I was so taken aback by the simplicity, logic, and pure necessity of the business idea and module, and I loved the idea!

So, 3 months after Mum’s death, I launched the company, and in November 2010, Personal Touch Funeral Planning Services was born.

Personal Touch Funeral Planning Services is unique as we are both a premier Funeral Director offering all the traditional services and more of a funeral director as well as having the added benefit of a full event planning service offering everything needed to showcase beautiful receptions for after the funeral.

Our service’s aim is simple; to relieve the stress on those involved, as we organise all the important funeral, reception and memorial details, and allow families time to focus on saying goodbye to their loved one.

One of my mother’s favorite sayings was ‘Out of bad comes good’, and here we are. As well as having a good laugh at me as she would never believe that this is something that the ‘Frightened Friday’ daughter of hers would become involved in, I know that this is something that mum and daddy would be incredibly proud of, and that I am really pleased and incredibly proud of too!

We understand what you are going through, and we want you to know that we are fully dedicated to delivering your personal wishes for your special day so that you too can feel proud at what you have planned and delivered for your loved one.

We look forward to working with you – whether you are planning a traditional or non-traditional event – to organise a fitting tribute fully reflecting the life of your loved one that was lived.’