Our Tutors

Our tutors have a wealth of experience and expertise to share with you.  Two things they have in common are a passion for the quality of training and a passion for helping Celebrants to be the best that they can be.

They will challenge you and inspire you like never before. They will furnish you with the skills to create and deliver outstanding and memorable Civil Ceremonies.

Anne Barber
Anne is Managing Director of Civil Ceremonies Ltd and founder and Honorary President of the Institute of Civil Funerals. Anne established Civil Funerals in the UK in 2002 and founded the Institute of Civil Funerals in 2004. Her previous career included the role of New Project Director at Lifecycle Marketing Ltd and Distribution Director with Bounty Services (UK) Ltd. She has been involved in establishing many services with Local Authorities and Registration Districts across the UK, in particular Naming Ceremonies, Renewal of Marriage Vows Ceremonies and Commitment Ceremonies as well as Civil Funerals. More recently she has established the website www.funeralmap.co.uk, an online resource for those arranging a funeral. Her qualifications include a BA (Hons) Degree in Business Studies and an MBA.

Tony Walter
Professor Tony Walter (BA Durham, PhD Aberdeen) is Reader in Sociology, and Centre Director of the Centre for Death and Society at Bath University, where he directed the MA in Death & Society. Tony is a leading sociologist in all matters relating to death in the UK and is inspirational in his tutoring on Civil Funeral courses. He helped found the National Funerals College, and has lectured in the UK, Ireland, USA, Japan and Italy on funerals and funeral reform. Among his 14 books are 'Funerals - and how to reform them' (Hodder 1990), 'The Revival of Death' (Routledge 1994), 'On Bereavement - the culture of grief' (Open University Press 1999), and 'The Mourning for Diana' (Berg 1999).

John Valentine
John has an MSc in social sciences and has published three books. He works in London as a funeral celebrant, and since 1995 has conducted almost 2000 funerals. He has been a tutor on the Civil Funerals training course since 2003, and is involved with developing and presenting further ceremonies training. As a practitioner, John is dedicated to creating the most meaningful and effective funeral for each individual client. As a course tutor, he is pleased to be able to pass on some of his skills and experience, and to play a part in ensuring that new Civil Funeral celebrants can write and deliver ceremonies to the same high standards as their more experienced colleagues.
John divides his time equally between celebrancy and his other business interests.

Melanie MacHugh
Melanie has been working as a professional actress for 16 years. She trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and has worked in many theatres in Great Britain and Ireland including the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, the National Theatre in London and spent a very successful season with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon Avon and the West End. She has performed in both classical and modern plays, most recently in London and touring Scotland in Conor McPherson's Tony-award winning play, Shining City. Her interest in voice work and public speaking is inspired by the great teachers Patsy Rodenburg at the National and Cicely Berry at the RSC, who is probably the most famous voice teacher in the world. Melanie is also a winner of the prestigious Yeats Competition in Sligo, Ireland and uses poetry in workshops as a way of demonstrating the possibilities of vocal expression.

Steve Middleton
Steve began his career in teaching and then started working in the Registration Service in 1978. Since then he has worked at every level in the service including Superintendent Registrar roles in Newbury, Trafford and Newham. Steve's extensive career has also moved him to Reading, Wokingham, Manchester, Waltham Forest and Bracknell. He has always been passionate about training in the service and was a leading Institute of Population Registration trainer for 20 years and has an enormous range of experience in training for all aspects of technical registration.