Meet Kate Mukungu, Your Celebrant in North East England
I’m an Irish woman living by the sea in South Shields. I am part of a beautifully blended family with my husband, our adult children and grandchildren. I run my celebrant practice part-time and in my downtime I like to be out along the coast. The stunning beaches and headland paths where I live are my happy place. I am often found there as an extremely slow but equally happy jogger.
What Did Kate do Previously?
For over twenty five years I worked in community development and charitable organisations, including twelve years as a chief executive. My roles have focused on tackling health inequalities and supporting people affected by mental health issues, substance misuse, domestic abuse and HIV.
I’ve been inspired by many people, especially women who organise for positive change in communities and societies. I spent several years doing a doctorate researching how women activists come together to tackle violence against women and girls. I worked as a university lecturer while I completed this research.
I developed skills in my previous work that enhance my practice as a celebrant. I can talk to individuals and groups about sensitive and difficult matters, speak to large audiences and I have excellent writing skills. I am not easily shocked, which I hope you find reassuring.
Why Did Kate Become a Celebrant?
I first became interested in becoming a celebrant in 2013 when supporting campaigns for equal marriage for same sex couples in Ireland and the UK. The struggle for marriage equality made me think about how groups of people have been excluded from ceremonies throughout history. I wanted to play my part in challenging this exclusion, as I explain in my first blog post .
My drive to make ceremonies more inclusive also came from ceremonies in my own life. I would have liked more freedom of expression in for these ceremonies but I was restricted by inflexible formats. You can read more about this in my second blog post . So, whilst I celebrate equal marriage, there is still much more to achieve before ceremonies are truly inclusive. I am here for that challenge.
I decided to become a part-time celebrant and trained with the International College of Professional Celebrants. A year achieving accredited qualification through the college I took the leap into self-employment.
Who Might Choose Kate as a Celebrant?
People who see ceremonies as an important way of bringing people together.
People who care about having a deeply personalised, inclusive ceremony facilitated with warmth and care.
People who think it is important to choose their own celebrant rather than have one assigned to them.
People who want to make informed choices about their ceremony and who may be asking questions like;
how can we have a funeral ceremony that’s not rushed, so we have time to say what we want?
what are my options if I don’t want to walk down the aisle?
how can our child’s naming ceremony blend the different cultures and beliefs in our family?
will our celebrant carry out our ceremony in a way that reflects our values?
I’ve noticed that many people who book me are involved in helping others through community work, wellbeing and care, education, or something similar. I am very happy that I appear to have become a celebrant for community changemakers.
What Does Kate’s Logo Mean?
The words and image of my logo are deeply meaningful to me. The tri-spiral image in the circle depicts the rock art in an ancient Irish ceremony site called Newgrange. I chose it because I believe ceremonies honour the meaning that birth, life and death hold for us. Newgrange proves that ceremonies have been important to human beings for thousands for years. My tagline “together in ceremony” reflects my commitment to unified, inclusive ceremonies that leave nobody behind.
Message Kate to Start Planning Your Ceremony
Message to let me know about your ceremony needs and I will get back to you very soon.
Image: Danielle and Rob Phelps Photography