When Judith Dandy founded Dandelion Farewells, she brought with her decades of experience supporting people through loss, change and transition. What grew from that background is not simply a funeral service, but a thoughtful, person-led approach to funeral care, rooted in listening, presence and genuine human connection at one of life’s most vulnerable moments.
So how did funeral services and planning become Judith’s calling? The answer begins long before Dandelion Farewells existed.
A life shaped by loss, change and human stories
In the early 1990s, Judith studied social work at Sheffield University. Her dissertation focused on grief and bereavement, and her placements were in the local hospice. “I found that work incredibly valuable,” she says now, “and I realised very early on that the theories of grief, bereavement and adjustment I was studying were weaving themselves through everything I did.”
After qualifying, Judith worked at Crawley Hospital in discharge planning. To her, it was never just administrative; it was about loss, change and adaptation. “If Mrs Jones had a stroke, well, that’s a loss. It’s change. It’s adaptation. Most of life is loss and change. Even the lovely moments involve loss of status, identity, name … being without something we had before.”
She carried that same lens into later roles supporting carers, and then into adult care services, helping young people with additional needs transition from child to adult services. “Again, it was about what it feels like to be without something, to lose something … although I still hadn’t realised how much I was using those grief models.”
Life unfolded, marriage, children, a career break, and then a personal tragedy redirected everything. A close friend, the same age as Judith, died suddenly. At the funeral, as the coffin left the church, Judith remembers making what she describes as an “awful, moaning, groaning, mourning noise of grief.” For a moment she worried she was being too loud, until she realised she didn’t want anyone to intervene. “I just needed to sob. I was so, so sad.”
That moment stayed with her. And the questions returned, quietly but persistently: why do we do funerals? Why do we gather? What does it all mean?
Finding a calling and a gap
In 2014, a magazine article about a woman who had retrained as a funeral director proved to be Judith’s epiphany moment. “I thought, I’m going to do it. If she can, I can.”
She wrote to 30 funeral directors, crematorium managers, and cemetery managers, asking for a coffee, simply to understand what they did.
Only one replied.
The lack of response intrigued her, and she soon discovered why: there was no clear entry pathway, no formal training route into funeral care unless you were already inside the sector, and very little transparency from the outside looking in.
Judith did try working within larger corporate funeral companies. “Lovely people,” she says, “but I couldn’t do it. It didn’t feel like serving bereavement, and I couldn’t see how the standard model met what I understand bereavement to need.”
Then she found the world of natural burial. At Clandon Wood in Guildford, she finally saw a way of working that aligned with her instincts: open-hearted, intentional and deeply human. “They became my tribe,” she says, and their message to her was clear: there’s a gap. Step into it.
Creating Dandelion Farewells
Judith trained first for her Certificate, then her Diploma with the British Institute of Funeral Directors (the highest qualification available), and she has kept learning ever since. “Every day is a school day,” she says. If she doesn’t know an answer, she finds someone who does.
And then in 2015, Judith founded Dandelion Farewells.
From the moment you walk through the door, the philosophy is evident. The premises are light, calm and intentionally domestic. Visitors arrive into what Judith calls a “family lounge” or “meeting lounge” (carefully avoiding assumptions about what families look like), where you can make a cup of tea, close the curtains for privacy, and sit without being rushed or processed.
Beyond the lounge is the room where families can spend time with the person who has died. And beyond that, the care room, never referred to as a mortuary. “It’s where we undertake our care,” Judith explains. “Where someone is cared for properly and respectfully. If we called it a mortuary, it would feel cold, clinical and lonely and that’s not how we work.”
Every room, every choice, is intentional.
One philosophy, two strands
From the beginning, Judith felt her work had two inseparable strands: providing deeply connected, emotionally intelligent funeral care, and helping people understand death, choice and planning long before they are forced to make decisions in crisis. That philosophy underpins everything Dandelion Farewells does.
Funerals shaped around people, not packages
Funerals are shaped around the person who has died and the people who love them, rather than fixed packages or templates. The team supports a wide range of funerals from attended services and celebrations of life to church funerals, natural and green burials, and direct cremation, which they refer to as a Simple Farewell. Even then, direct cremation is never treated as a conveyor-belt process. Families are gently offered opportunities for ritual and connection, whether that’s spending time with the person who has died, providing clothing or personal items, placing photographs or flowers in the coffin, or simply being present at key moments if they wish.
Care that remains human and personal
Care of the person who has died is always hands-on, respectful and transparent. Families may be invited to take part in washing, dressing or other acts of care if that feels right for them. Language is chosen carefully, people are referred to by name or as “the person in our care”, never reduced to a process or a product.
Time, continuity and reassurance
Support is unhurried and continuous. The same people remain present throughout the journey, from first contact to care, visits and often the funeral itself. Judith and her team place great emphasis on presence and explanation, helping families understand what is happening, what they may see or hear, and why, so that nothing feels abrupt or frightening.
Clarity around practical matters
Practical matters are handled with the same care. Families are guided through legal and medical processes, offered clear and compassionate explanations, and supported through what can otherwise feel confusing or opaque. Costs are explained openly, with a commitment to transparency and moderation. Dandelion Farewells does not sell prepaid funeral plans and typically manages all third-party payments, issuing a single, consolidated invoice that can be paid from the estate.
Opening up conversations before they are needed
Alongside funeral care, education remains central. Judith and her team regularly speak at hospices, schools, community groups and professional training days. One of their most powerful tools is My Wishes, My Way, a facilitated conversation that helps people explore their wishes long before they are needed. “People can be surprised by their own clarity,” Judith says, “or by how much they never knew they needed to consider.”
A different way of working
Today, Judith continues to do the work she has always been drawn to: sitting alongside people at moments of loss, helping them make sense of change, and creating space for thoughtful, meaningful goodbyes. Through Dandelion Farewells, she has built not just a funeral service, but a way of working that reflects a lifetime of listening, learning and care — one that honours both the person who has died and those who are left behind.
If you’re curious, have questions, or simply want to understand your options, Dandelion Farewells offers space for conversation — without pressure, expectation or urgency. Sometimes, just talking things through can be a gift in itself.
If you’d like to know more about Dandelion Farewells and their thoughtful and considerate approach, visit Dandelion Farewells
