Feedback & Testimonials
"My family and I would like to thank Roger for all that he did before and during the funeral of my dad. As soon as I read Roger's bio on the Humanist website, I knew he was the person to conduct the ceremony and this was confirmed during my first phone call with Roger as he was so compassionate, approachable and positive. We met with Roger to talk about my dads life and then Roger took all the details and memories and made them into the most beautiful tribute to my dad. The tribute was moving and poignant but uplifting and filled with humour, which is exactly how we wanted to celebrate my dads life. We found Roger to be friendly, down to earth, funny and compassionate, and I would highly recommend him as a celebrant" - Huddersfield
"Roger conducted compiled and conducted my fathers eulogy in May this year. Sadly my Mum passed away in September, and we had no hesitation in asking Roger to compile and conduct Mums funeral for us. We felt it was like the return of an old friend such as his warmth and compassion lends itself. As before, Roger certainly didnt disappoint conducting the ceremony in his usual professional manner. We could not reccommend Roger highly enough to anyone wishing to use his services" - Leeds
"Roger was recommended to us because we wanted an uplifting ceremony that reflected the type of man our dad was. He was always positive about his life. Roger met with us and we chatted and laughed about our memories. He completely captured who our dad was. He packed so much in to the service and made it feel as though he personally knew our dad. Everyone that attended has commented on his excellent delivery. Roger helped make the day memorable for us" - Grenoside
"Roger was totally professional but in a relaxed and unobtrusive way. The memorial was more than I hoped for. Clearly, Roger had listened to everything I wanted and liaise with others involved to relieve me of stress. He put everything together in a seamless and flowing tribute which warmed the hearts of everyone who attended. Comments on the day were how true to life every word spoken was and there was many a smile and laugh amid the sadness. We feel we did my husband proud in remembering him in such a personal and moving way." - Rose Hill, Huddersfield
"That was truly magical” – Huddersfield
"Wow, I don’t know where to begin with Roger. From the initial phone call, I knew that we had been perfectly matched. Roger made us feel at ease, he listened to absolutely everything we said and wrote down everything we said. He made the most horrendous time of our lives peaceful and memorable. He explained every little detail about the order of the service and put the ball firmly in our court. The day of the service, Roger spoke without even looking at his notes, almost as if what he was saying he had lived, and knew my stepmom; he even had my dad quite literally laughing out loud to the memories he was sharing. The way the service was worded was absolutely breathtaking, and I could not have written it better myself having known her all my life. I would 10000% recommend Roger to absolutely anybody going through the pain we did. I just cannot sing his praises enough and express just how grateful we are to have had him as a celebrant." - Huddersfield
"We had a truly wonderful ceremony and Roger did a first class job. It felt lovely to leave a funeral smiling. Very uplifting service and Roger seemed to understand what my husband was really like" - Brighouse
“Roger was brilliant. Very efficient, kept me informed throughout the whole process, kind and did everything possible to make the service a tribute to Dad as an individual, rather than ‘just another service.’ He made sure I could really personalise the occasion and did a great job piecing together all the information I gave him about Dad. Highly recommend.” – Rawdon
“Roger performed the best Humanist service I’ve been to, and I’ve been to many” – Huddersfield
"Roger captured my mum's colourful spirit perfectly. A really touching tribute. Many people who attended and watched online have written me to comment on Roger's excellent delivery, one asked if he’d known my mum. Thank you" - Hebden Bridge
“The happiest funeral I have ever been to – thank you so much” – Wakefield (service also included a live band!)
“Roger was absolutely fantastic, he turned a very difficult day into a wonderful celebration of life. He liaised with several members of our family and helped us all so much. We cannot recommend him highly enough. Thank you Roger!” – Grenoside
“Roger almost became an honorary member of the family!” – Dewsbury
“With his prepared questions, he was able to draw out more information regarding my Mum, than I thought he could. He captured memories that had been forgotten. The tribute was a fantastic representation of my Mum. I would definitely recommend Roger Payne” – Huddersfield
“Thank you seems inadequate to express our gratitude…I have never come out of a funeral before where everyone was smiling!” – Grenoside
“Everybody thought the service was a real tribute to Mum, just as we intended it to be – thank you so much for making it great” – Wakefield
“Mum said she didn’t know how she would feel on the day… but being so uplifted was never even a thought, thank you so much for all your hard work” – Grenoside
“A truly wonderful service, Roger did everything we wanted and more. Everyone who attended commented on how beautiful the service was” – Rochdale
"Roger was just excellent in every way. He came highly recommended by our selected funeral directors, and in truth he was fully 'in tune' with our needs in respect of my late mother. We wanted a service (in particular with covid restrictions)|, that was 'simple' but respectful to my late mum. It was a service that 'celebrated' mums life and in that regard Roger met our needs entirely." - Huddersfield
“Roger was fantastic and really friendly, the wording of the ceremony was perfect and he really captured my Dad” – Wakefield
“Everyone said that the wording was great, the sentiment was great, and you were great!” – Wakefield
“From start to finish Roger was amazing!! Very professional service and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him!” – Holmfirth
"Roger is very wonderful person who is brilliant at what he does. Very kind and compassionate. Nothing is too much trouble for him. He did a fantastic job and my fathers funeral couldnt have been more appropriate. Thanks to Roger it made a hard day much easier." - Wakefield
“We couldn’t have wished for a better service, you were brilliant and timed to perfection, Thanks ever so much, Every comment from people was fabulous, for many elderly it was their first Humanist service and they were delighted and actually came away happy!” – Huddersfield
“Roger was extremely kind and caring – the service he provided suited my brother to a tee. I would most certainly use him again, but not too soon!” – Wakefield
“You smoothed out a day that I thought was going to be very bumpy indeed. Many of the people who attended said how much the service reflected A and that they enjoyed your relaxed delivery, as I did. I wanted to do A justice and judging by the reactions from his family I managed to do that with your help and advice. Thank you” – Mirfield
“Roger was kind, sensitive and thoroughly professional throughout and captured my husbands personality perfectly in his tribute. I cannot recommend him highly enough” – Wakefield
“We all thought Roger did an amazing job, I would highly recommend to anyone” – Pontefract
“Both my sister and I were ever so pleased with how the service went, and took great comfort from the many, many comments we received from those attending on how well it epitomised my Dad. Once again, many thanks for the time spent preparing the tribute. At our first meeting I found the experience quite uplifting recounting the various snippets of my Dad’s life. The tribute definitely struck an excellent balance between the various people in my Dad’s life, and all those mentioned were touched by the recognition of the parts they played in Dad’s life” – Wakefield
“Roger was brilliant and spoke about our Dad as a friend. Everyone commented on how perfect the ceremony was. He came and met all the family and we talked about Dad and showed him photos he then put together the most perfect tribute. I would recommend him to anyone.” – Cottingley
“Roger, I just want to say a big Thank you… I was really overwhelmed at the amount of people there, and I couldn’t have wished for it to have gone any better. I felt that it was a true tribute to my husband” – Elland
“Roger obviously listened very carefully to what we told him about my husband and conducted the service as if he had known him all his life. Everyone commented on what a brilliant job he did” – Pontefract
“We just wanted to say how grateful we are for making dad’s send-off perfect, we couldn’t have wished for a better service and for this we are truly thankful. I know that almost every one who attended made comments on how good the service was, safe to say you knocked it out of the park so take a bow” – Wakefield
“Roger was very attentive and sympathetic to our loss and needs. He took time to understand not only our loved one but also us as a family. Nothing was too much trouble, even on the day we felt we could make changes. He was approachable and a good listener, getting a clear sense of our history. On the day of the funeral many of the guests commented on the service, in particular how Roger had delivered and led the proceedings. He certainly steered us through a difficult day” – Wakefield
(page last updated November 2023)