Written by Claire Richards, Work Based Trainer
My journey to Funeral Care Apprenticeships started when one of HSDC’s major employers, Southern Co-op, asked if we could deliver Apprenticeships in funeral care. This was a qualification that we did not deliver and that I had no knowledge of, however, I wanted to explore this for the employer to see what was possible.
It was quickly apparent that it would be tough to recruit and maintain a Work Based Trainer for this role due to its nature and providing sustainability for a full caseload within our community. This did not deter me and after reviewing the Standards for the Apprenticeships at Levels 2 and 3, I identified that with my own experience alongside some additional training, I could deliver this qualification for HSDC.
Putting together a proposal for this, I approached the Work Based Learning Manager. The proposal highlighted that this qualification could be delivered by our existing staff with some additional training and some work experience in the funeral care industry. I was thrilled that this was agreed and immediately approached the employer. They agreed for me and my colleague to complete work experience in their branches, crematorium, and Head Office.
My family had concerns about the work experience, as I am in tune with my emotions and the emotions of others, they were worried about the impact this would have on me. I can tell you now, without a plot twist, that this was absolutely not the case, in fact, it is a necessity to have these qualities.
I started week one by shadowing one of the area managers. I attended an investigation meeting (agreed by all parties) which resulted in policies and procedures being reviewed, and I felt ready to get “stuck in”.
Day two was an early start, I went to a branch quite a distance away to join a funeral crew for the day. I was immediately welcomed and made to feel like I belonged. I was there to observe, and I was put straight to it! I was guided throughout so if I say we rather than I, it was me observing. Firstly, I was seeing a “close” – this was only the second deceased person I had ever seen and although I was apprehensive, I knew I had to see and feel these things to understand and deliver the qualification to the best of my ability.
The care and attention given was incredible, beyond expectation and everything must be perfect, for example, the nameplate on the head of the coffin was a little off-centre, so they set about correcting this before even considering placing the coffin in the hearse.
The entire funeral process was incredibly respectful, which was always the case throughout my two weeks no matter what funeral, or what service, diversity was embraced with no judgment, just respect. I carried on with the team to service more funerals and during the time I was with the crew, I wanted to find out as much as I could about them and why they chose this profession. The answer was unanimous, it is a privilege to be part of such a personal time of the deceased person and their family. This certainly gave me the WOW factor!
From then on, I continued to be in mortuaries across the south where the deceased were prepped with the utmost care, coffins were finished to the client’s requests, flowers and tributes were handled with care, paperwork was double and triple-checked, routes were confirmed, attention to detail was given and most of all, and I know I have said this before, respect to the deceased was outstanding. I was concerned before I started that dignity would not be of importance, however, this was not the case in my experience. In all preparations, dignity was a priority.
At the end of my first week, I joined the private ambulance crew. Again, I was not sure how I would feel as this was dealing directly with the family of a newly deceased individual at their most vulnerable time. I quickly learned that this team had lots to accomplish, all crucially important and nothing could feel hurried for the families involved.
The first task was to encoffin a gentleman that we were then taking to another branch for a family viewing. This was relatively straightforward as the family had brought in clothes and the gentleman had had a postmortem and been embalmed.
We then had an assist at the crematorium, which means to help with the carrying of a coffin.
We had several collections to make after this, for the home collection, one of the crew called the family and gave them a time that we would be there. Once again, I was blown away by the care and attention of the crew, talking to the family, giving them information, and letting them know what was going to happen. Another WOW moment for me was when the deceased was on the stretcher ready to go in the ambulance, the crew made the bed from where he was taken. This was so when the family went into that room again it was a nicer greeting than it might have been for them. We took the gentleman back to the mortuary, completed the initial checks, and booked him in.
While we were there, we needed to encoffin another gentleman for a family viewing, and he took a little longer to prepare for viewing but the team did an incredible job and again I was left with a sense of calm. Some of the preparation was quite invasive and I was completely oblivious to this before I started this journey, but the more I observed with the support and explanation of the fantastic staff, the more I understood. It is absolutely necessary for the families to see their loved ones in the best possible condition.
We transferred the two coffins to the ambulance and transported them for the family viewings. By this time, we were all flagging a bit, so time for lunch, or so we thought. Another call came in and this time we had to collect the deceased from another funeral director to take to the coroner. There is a coroner contract with the business, which means a certain number of hours is dedicated to transferring or collecting the deceased on the coroner’s request.
The following week, I spent some time at a Crematorium. This is where I learned about the processes that take place, a very interesting one indeed! The WOW factor here was that with family’s permission, any metal such as knee and hip replacements are sold to a metal dealer and the money goes to several local charities! As much as £16k last year alone from just that one site.
I spent some time with the coordinator team at the head office where requests from branches came in and they needed to book the cremation or burial, the cars, and the crew. This was interesting as it highlighted communication gaps that I could certainly fix within the Apprenticeship.
In summary, after meeting so many people who chose to do this job, which is quite often thankless, I am in awe that we have so many like this in our community workforce. The hours are long, with on-call duties as well as the general long workday, the situations they find themselves in without warning, being surrounded by grief yet the crews are a tight-knit group who are there for each other, they are just incredible.
I have used my learning and experience to create learning plans with stretch and challenge activities, I have built training resources and a Google Classroom to help with information and set up a working group made up of HSDC stakeholders to support with the creation and marketing of this Apprenticeship, some of who were already on board and some that had reservations to give rounded perspective and to ensure that we get this right.
I am beyond proud to be able to work for a college that has enabled this Qualification to be part of our offering and I can’t wait to get started.