Terri Shanks had a background in Corporate Training, before she had her daughter 10 years ago. After working in her husbands printing business for a while, she later trained as a Celebrant with the UK President of the Australian based International Federation of Celebrants, and has subsequently built up a very successful business working as a Celebrant throughout Sussex. In May 2007 she went to Oklahoma, USA to study at the In-Sight Institute with Doug Manning, (an author of over 30 books, a world leading lecturer in the field of understanding bereavment & grief, and trainer of over 1000 Celebrants throughout America) Terri was also fortunate to attend the first ever International Convention of Independent Celebrants in Oklahoma, where she was invited to speak to Celebrants from throughout the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

Using her wealth of knowledge and experience, Terri has now set up her own training academy for Celebrants in Worthing, West Sussex and is delighted to now be working alongside the Association of Independent Celebrants, and The International College of Celebrancy.

Neil Dorward has worked in the world of training, learning and development for over 17 years within education, the health service and the manufacturing industry. He is a CIPD Graduate with a Masters level Diploma in HRM and has CIPD training qualifications. He was one of the first people in the UK to gain a Diploma in Funeral Celebrancy from the highly regarded International College of Celebrancy in Australia and has recently been granted license to facilitate this diploma within the UK.

In 2005, Neil became the first full time Civil Funeral Celebrant in Scotland and established the leading celebrancy company in Scotland called Bespoke Civil Ceremonies. He has created his own training course for prospective celebrants and has set the standards of excellence for funeral celebrants in Scotland.

He is a full member of the prestigious Professional Speakers Association and is regularly invited to deliver keynote addresses to the business world on the subjects of legacy, funerals and death. He has several articles published in America and the UK and has just published his first book on how to be a passionate and effective speaker at a at a funeral.