About poetic endings

Poetic Endings is an award-winning, independent and ethical funeral service based in Forest Hill in London. We empower you to have the funeral that you want and need because we believe that good funerals are incredibly important.

Poetic Endings is a different kind of funeral company. This isn’t an inherited business or corporate group - we choose to do this because we believe in the power of funerals.

We can help you with both modern and traditional, simple, creative, bespoke, green, alternative and affordable funerals, wherever you are in London. If you're looking for an ethical and independent funeral director who is transparent, open-minded and flexible, get in touch and we'll see if we're a good match.

We're LGBTQIA friendly, a member of the National Society Of Allied And Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) and the Association of Green Funeral Directors and recommended by the Good Funeral Guide and the Natural Death Centre. In 2019, we were awarded the title of Best Female Led Modern Funeral Company and in 2020, we were awarded the title of Best Independent Funeral Services Provider in London.

If you're not in London but would like our help, please get in touch and we'll do everything we can to support you or find someone who can.

Poetic Endings - Louise Winter - Funeral Director. Photo by Stephanie Kalber — Why i started poetic endings

Funerals have the power to honour, heal, and inspire. A final chance to come together, learn more about a person’s life, reflect on it, and say goodbye.

Many of today’s funerals are formulaic, uninspiring, and soulless. We’re restricted by a lack of choice, told to get the funeral ‘out of the way’, and rarely taken care of during what is a chaotic and challenging time.

Poetic Endings is founded on the belief that a good funeral can be profound and transformational in helping to acknowledge and accept that someone has died. Facing death can be an overwhelming, traumatic and confusing time and we want you to feel fully supported in all the decisions you have to make.

The Poetic Philosophy

An inspiring funeral at Willow Row Barrow © Sacred Stones 2020

Why We Exist

To create funerals that honour, heal, and inspire.

Steve Mead's funeral, 2020, used with kind permission from Fran Hall

Our Mission

To support people in putting together inspiring and inspired funerals.

Our Vision

A world in which people can create the funeral they want and need.

Meet The Poetic Team

Our team members all come from diverse and creative backgrounds, and many people view us as a bespoke and boutique funeral service. It’s our focus on the individual which allows us to create funerals that honour, heal, and inspire.

Featured

Louise Winter - Funeral Director & Founder

Louise is a funeral director and the founder of Poetic Endings. Before training as a funeral director and launching Poetic Endings, Louise was the editor of the Good Funeral Guide and an experienced funeral celebrant. She's also the co-director of Life. Death. Whatever.- an award-winning initiative that exists to change the dialogue around death and dying. Louise’s book, We All Know How This Ends, was published in 2021 by Bloomsbury. Louise loves poetry, gardening, and climbing mountains all over the world.

Isabel Potter - Director of Operations/ Senior Funeral Director

After a career in arts and charity marketing, Isabel was a Funeral Director and Head of Operations at another modern funeral service - working there for more than seven years. She led thoughtful, person-centered funerals across Greater London and beyond, delivered excellent client care, trained and supported the growing team, and championed gentle death care in the mortuary. More recently, Isabel has worked at Cruse Bereavement Support as London Hub Manager and at St Christopher's Hospice as Deputy Community Action Lead. She is passionate about building confidence in others to talk about death, dying and loss, improving gentle death care, and leading meaningful, empowering funerals. She is also training to become a death doula with Living Well Dying Well. Isabel was born and brought up in SE London, loves swimming in Brockwell Lido all year round, life drawing and exploring with her kids. She loves dogs, so any friendly ones are very welcome to visit anytime.

Our wider team

An experienced team of funeral professionals support the Poetic Endings’ team in providing exceptional services to our clients and ensuring all aspects of our funerals run smoothly.

Arabella Snow

Arabella, known as Bella, is Louise’s British Shorthair kitten and provides support in the form of cuddles for the rest of the Poetic team. Bella likes naps, feathered toys and ocean treats.

“Death is a really awfully hard thing to talk about, let alone practically manage. I want to say that we found the most amazing funeral director, Louise Winter, in South London, who helped a great deal with saying goodbye to our favourite person in a way that felt as right as it could. It’s the sort of thing that’s really hard to get a recommendation for so I wanted to say how much it helped.”

Olivia Singer

“I cannot recommend Poetic Endings enough. From start to finish I experienced a completely seamless, and dare I say enjoyable experience planning mum’s funeral with them. From initial contact, under very stressful and emotional circumstances to the delivery of service & burial I felt totally looked after and secure in the knowledge that mum was going to have the funeral she deserved. I never thought a funeral could be one of the best days of my life, but thanks to the team at Poetic Endings, the impossible became reality.”

Sean Arkless

“Poetic Endings are very modern and bespoke in their outlook, and seem to be a breath of fresh air to the funeral business.”

Anita Stubbs

Contact Us

Whatever you’re going through, we’re here to support you.

☎ 020 4525 8318
funerals@poetic-endings.com

37 David’s Road
Forest Hill
London
SE23 3EP

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