the power of farewell, when there is no goodbye

Welcome. I am Helen McNeill - a heart-led writer, creator, and Founder of Penny For Them, a bespoke storytelling and celebrancy service based on Boonwurrung land in Sandringham, Victoria.

With nearly 30 years of professional experience in communications, Penny For Them was instigated as a pro-bono biography offering for palliative care provider, Caritas Christi Hospice in Kew, Victoria. As a self-titled ‘Thought Collector’—acting as witness, prompt, and discreet confidant—my accumulated professional skills coalesced with life experience and a thoughtful disposition to form Penny For Them. The storying began.

What started as a way to give back resulted in transformative encounters, the likes of which I could never have imagined. Collaborating with individuals who are acutely aware of their mortality is deeply humbling, and meeting them at a time of such heightened vulnerability is a tender undertaking. There’s a need to fast-track rapport yet foster connection gently, in order to create the trust that allows for revelation and reflection on life and love.  Acutely aware too, of the need for timeliness and the responsibility to capture these valuable short-form life stories, not only for the storyteller, but for the family they will soon leave behind.

The capturing of one life story was particularly profound - because time ran out – but I am forever grateful for what became the genesis of my pull to Funeral Celebrancy.

In April 2020, I wrote my first funeral service in honour of the life that created mine. My mother, Kate, succumbed to COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in the UK.

In the shocking early days of grief, writing the service gave me a sense of purpose; a way to process such an abstract loss that was happening, quite literally and figuratively, elsewhere. The resulting service offered some semblance of connection for those family and friends prevented from attending a funeral in person. Hands that yearned to exchange comfort instead scrolled through the service online; when circumstances offered nothing, the power of those words became everything.

Knowing all too well how meaningful a thoughtfully delivered funeral service can be, I sought out and was mentored by funeral celebrancy industry leader, Rachael Angus, Sustained by her wise counsel, I offer Penny For Them for the writing and delivery of noteworthy funeral services in the Bayside area of Melbourne.

In the complex days of early grief, it can be difficult to know who to engage for this exceptionally important undertaking. Please know that I understand this is a difficult time and am more than willing to explore our ‘fit’ with no obligation to commit. If it feels ‘right’, then you have my commitment to work with you to find the words - to honour and, ultimately, farewell your loved one.

Please use the contact page to submit an inquiry and I will respond in a timely manner.