Hi, I'm Doug
I live in Newark on Trent between Nottingham and Lincoln in the East Midlands and I absolutely love being a celebrant. I love it so much that I lead ceremonies in all the major life events – birth, marriage and death, as well as training and mentoring new celebrants on behalf of Humanists UK. I’m also a volunteer humanist chaplain at our wonderful local hospice.
Why choose me to help you with your naming ceremony?
Every celebrant has their own style, and I’d recommend shopping around before you decide. I’ve been a naming celebrant since 2016, and I’ve worked with families at all sorts of venues, from tiny back gardens to clubs, restaurants and even the renaissance chapel of an Italian palace, which was where I led my first naming ceremony. I’ve received masses of feedback, all positive, which I analyse, record and publish on my website. As a result, I reckon my strengths are:
• Professionalism – I’m often described as “professional”, and I inspire confidence.
• Vocal quality – I have acting training, and a strong and sonorous voice which people love listening to.
• Creativity – I am a skilled writer and ceremony designer with the capacity to delight you with an eloquent, inventive and completely original ceremony script.
• Lightness of touch – I believe that naming a child (or an adult for that matter) and welcoming them into the World is a profound and beautiful thing, and that humour and fun help to accentuate this.
• Cultural sensitivity – I’ve lived and worked in Europe and Asia and my travels have made me open-minded and able to communicate well with people from different social backgrounds and cultures.
I love meeting families for an exploratory chat either face-to-face or on Zoom, so do get in touch, even if you haven’t yet fixed a date. Have a look at my website too where you’ll find lots of practical information, FAQs, videos of me in action and client reviews.
Here is a small selection from the reviews you can find on my website:
A huge thank you to Doug for such a wonderful Naming ceremony for our daughter. It was funny, thoughtful, perfectly timed and most important thoroughly reflected who she is! Doug expertly guided us through the creation of the ceremony, letting us shape it how we wanted but with appropriate and thoughtful suggestions ….
— P's naming, Lincolnshire
Thanks for … Sunday. We really enjoyed the day and the ceremony was exactly what we wanted. We had lots of lovely comments to say how great it was and a few of our friends wished they had know about it for their children.
— R's naming, Nottinghamshire
We had a lovely naming ceremony for my daughter. It was as good as it was because of Doug. He was super professional, made the process simple, eased our nerves and delivered an amazing, heart warming service. Everyone was commenting on how good he was. Thanks Doug!
— H's naming, Leicestershire
Doug Duckworth
Where I work
Anywhere in the East Midlands and London
Fees from...
£250 (or less in cases of financial hardship)
Fluent in
Italian
How to contact me
douglas.duckworth@humanistceremonies.org.uk
Phone
Website
HUMANIST CEREMONIES™ is the network of more than 550 celebrants, trained by national charity Humanists UK to a gold standard to provide memorable and meaningful humanist ceremonies to non-religious people. Operating throughout England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, we deliver authentic, tailor-made and heartfelt ceremonies for life’s key moments. They are always inclusive and welcoming, regardless of the beliefs of those attending.
You can trust Humanist Ceremonies celebrants: We are DBS-checked, fully insured, and regularly peer reviewed for quality assurance. We are committed to a code of conduct, and have a transparent and robust complaints process in the rare case of a problem. We all pay a monthly fee to Humanists UK to further support the work of the charity, and are part of a regional network for like-minded celebrants for support and learning.
Humanist naming ceremonies
A humanist naming ceremony is a joyous event, and the perfect opportunity to gather friends and family to welcome your child into the world, with no reference to religion. It focuses on the child, their future and the circle of love and support around them, offering a sincere and personal alternative to a christening or other religious ceremony.
