It started with my grandmother on the Isle of Wight.
When my grandfather died, she moved to a small village to be closer to family. The village had little more than a church, a hall, and a post office, but it had something else. A group called Good Companions that met once a month for tea, cake, and company.
Every night before the meeting she’d moan about how she “had to go.” Every night afterwards she’d tell us everything, who said what, who was doing what, and she’d admit she’d rather enjoyed herself.
The excuse to leave the house. The chance to sit with others. That’s what she needed, even when she didn’t know it.
That seed stayed with me. After someone dies, the loneliness that follows can be devastating, and CPJ Field was uniquely placed to do something about it. Because the relationship between a funeral director and a family shouldn’t end on the day of the funeral. For many, that’s just the beginning.
In June 2018 I launched Never Alone across CPJ Field’s funeral homes, clear from the start about what it was and what it wasn’t.
It is not a bereavement group. We signpost to the many fantastic charities whose role that is, but we offer a space for anyone feeling lonely or socially isolated, for whatever reason. New to the area, working from home, recently bereaved, or simply needing an excuse to leave the house. No labels, everyone is welcome.
Every community is different, and what succeeds in one village may fall flat in another. Today Never Alone runs at all 34 CPJ Field funeral homes. Book clubs, knit and natter groups, walking groups, gardening clubs, lunch clubs, intergenerational coffee mornings. The Community Choir started with four members and two years later over 50 people attend regularly.
Local GP surgeries now signpost patients to us as part of social prescribing, and loneliness and bereavement charities regularly approach us to connect their services. The groups remain free, open to anyone.
I built my career at Shine Communication, a leading consumer PR agency, heading the FMCG team and managing a portfolio of award-winning clients worth over £2 million. Peroni, Bombay Sapphire, Heinz, Wall’s. Brand strategy, digital and social media, pitching new business.
After leaving agency life to start a family I worked as a freelance PR consultant with start-ups and entrepreneurs. Then my brother Charlie pointed something out. If I was looking for a challenge that would stretch my creative and strategic abilities, why not channel that experience into the family business?
I joined CPJ Field in 2012 and now lead the company’s marketing and community engagement. My communications background has shaped how Never Alone is positioned and promoted across communities, and how the business has made its digital transition.
Alongside Never Alone, I work closely with my brother Jeremy on CPJ Field’s colleague wellbeing programme. Caring for bereaved families is emotionally demanding work, and our colleagues shoulder grief every day. The outpourings of emotion, the life stories of incredible people often ended too early.
I’m not at the coal face, so to speak, yet it’s impossible not to be touched by the enormity of the impact our colleagues make day in, day out. Gratitude is a gift often taken for granted. My job reminds me to be grateful for all that I have, for the connections I’ve made, and for the role I can play in caring for those that care.
I represent the tenth generation of the Field family in the funeral profession, alongside my brothers Jeremy and Charlie. None of us took that responsibility for granted, and our father made clear there was never any expectation we would join the business. Each of us came to it in our own time.
His approach was always to be kind, to be fair, and to be compassionate. No life event, big or small, would pass without a handwritten letter. I still have them stored in a box under the bed, and I still see them pinned to colleagues’ desks across the business. He cared deeply for the people that care, something I too feel passionately about.
Our family motto is Care Above All, and for me that extends naturally into Never Alone. Bereavement can be incredibly tough, especially when you’re alone. Nobody should ever feel alone.
When I first joined the family business I dreaded people asking what I did for a living. Quite a change from discussing Peroni and Bombay Sapphire.
Now I actively invite the conversation because I see it as a golden opportunity to break down outdated stereotypes about funeral directors. Almost always, people are surprised that a funeral director could offer community support like Never Alone, and for free. Almost always they ask, “Do all funeral directors offer this?” I proudly respond, “No.”
In a world where you can be anything, choosing kindness is often underrated. But it remains my motivating force.
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