Something I am truly honoured to do every day

We are delighted to share the fantastic news that Thomas Atherton has achieved his certification in Funeral Administration and Arranging from the London Association of Funeral Directors.

Thomas had this to say about his achievement:

I am the Community Funeral Director for Hunnaball of Sudbury and my role involves supporting our families from arranging the funeral to the day of the funeral service.

At the start of the year, I fully completed my in-depth and extensive funeral conductor training, and during this time I was able to gain my certification in Funeral Administration and Arranging from the London Association of Funeral Directors.

I have been working for the Hunnaball Family Funeral Group for almost 5 years. My journey began as a funeral service operative, progressed to become a Funeral Arranger, then onto my ultimate goal of becoming a funeral conductor. The process of becoming a funeral conductor is lengthy as it requires a particular degree of care and empathy whilst also following the families wishes down to the smallest detail. There are many different services we offer from local Direct Unattended Cremations to full traditional services with limousines and horse hearses. All require a high degree of training as the day of the funeral is extremely important to us and the families we serve, this is their last goodbye and we take great pride in ensuring perfection.

Being a Community Funeral Director gives me a great sense of pride, and is something I am truly honoured to do every day.

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We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Community Funeral Director

We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Community Funeral Director for the Chelmsford and Witham area, Dan Miller.

Dan has recently completed his diploma in funeral directing from the NAFD and will step up to the role in June. Dan has said this about the opportunity…

“I am very excited to be trusted with this role and to really help make a difference in my community. I have been working for the Hunnaball Family Funeral Group for the last 4 and a half years and I have learnt so much about this industry completing my diploma in funeral directing recently. I love to help with what our families and communities need from us both as a funeral director and also as a source of comfort in difficult times.

Part of my role will be visiting local care facilities to see what they need from us in terms of support and information to help them and their families for the difficult and emotional process of losing a loved one. To provide the assistance and reassurance to our families in their time of need fills me with a sense of great pride and contentment to do my bit for them, however small that may be.

Looking after people is why I got into this profession to begin with. Guiding those who may not know where to turn or who can help towards the correct resources and support is vital for a smoother grieving process. I will be running friendship groups for those who have lost a loved one to connect with others in a similar situation along with our “Laying the myths to rest” tours for industry professionals so they can have a transparent view of what we do and how we care for the loved ones in our care.

It is an honour and a privilege to have the role that I have and I cannot wait to start to make a difference.”

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The time and energy were all worth it

We are delighted to share the fantastic news that Dan Miller has achieved his Level 4 Diploma in Funeral Directing from the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), the sectors leading education provider.

Dan had this to say about his achievement:

When I first started here at the Hunnaball Family Funeral Group I was gifted something of Trevor Hunnaball’s and as a joke a label was placed on it with Trevor’s full name and all of his qualifications and accreditations, DipFD, MBIE and MBIFD. Seeing this opened my eyes to the education and training available to me to further myself within the industry. I said to myself at the time that I wanted to get my own ‘Letters’ and thus my education journey began.

I initially started by completing a Funeral Service Operative Compliance and Quality Training Course with the NAFD. Then moving on to achieving a distinction grade in the Certificate in Funeral Arranging and Administration (CertFAA) course before finally starting my Level 4 Diploma in Funeral Directing (DipFD.)

The diploma was a 15 month course consisting of 12 units, each with their own set of course work and essays followed by 2 exams at the end. We attended a series of 12 online learning seminars led by Emily Houghton, DipFD, DipFAA, CertED who is on the board of education for the NAFD. Along with Anne Beckett-Allen, DipFD, MBA, MBIFD who has been training Funeral Directors for decades, including Polly Hunnaball, DipFD. Industry experts were present as guest speakers with specific technical knowledge in their field to help give us well rounded, applicable knowledge that we use in our day-to-day roles.

After completing the 12 units and course work it was jumping into revision for 2 formal exams. A 45-minute professional speaking exam where a series of questions would be asked by an NAFD examiner. Then followed a 3 and a half hour written exam consisting of 25 questions. These were the cause of a lot of stressful, sleepless nights. Bringing my cue cards with me wherever I went, post-it notes up around my house and quizzing Emilia when passing her in the corridors. The stress was all worth it in the end, as I was confident and comfortable during the final exams and could be proud of the work that I produced.

When I received the email to say that I achieved a Merit grade in the Diploma I was over-joyed. The time and energy were all worth it and I couldn’t help but jump up and down in elation and pride. My parents are also incredibly proud and they can’t wait to celebrate with me formally on the 13th of September for the awards ceremony along with all the other students receiving their diplomas.

I finally have my own ‘Letters’ that I set out for, have achieved my goal and I am incredibly proud.

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