A trainee programme set up by Nottinghamshire’s largest independent funeral directors, A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service, is offering the opportunity to gain five qualifications to kick-start a career in the funeral industry as the UK faces the highest levels of unemployment in five years.

The four-year residential course offers the chance to work in each department of the business ranging from fleet maintenance to the mortuary and is open to those with at least two A Level passes or equivalent and welcomes anyone with a true interest in the funeral sector who is looking for a career change, an alternative to university or who has faced redundancy due to the pandemic.

Set up two decades ago, the programme has since gained prominence as the cost of a university education has increased and unemployment levels have risen, with predictions that 2.2 million people could be unemployed at the end of the year.

Over the course of the programme, trainees will gain National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) recognised qualifications; British Institute of Embalmers (BIE) Membership; a National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) Fixer Licence; Institute of Advanced Motorists Membership (IAM) and an Emergency First Aid at Work qualification.

Trainees on the programme will also have the opportunity to live in a shared apartment with others who are working their way through the scheme. The apartment, which is based above Lymns’ head office in central Nottingham, has four en-suite bedrooms and a communal living area and is included in the programme, with trainees paid their wages on top.

Commercial director at A.W Lymn, Pete Clarson, who oversees the trainees, said: “One of the reasons we originally put this programme together was to offer more choices to those looking for alternative career choices other than attending university. Our programme enables the trainees to gain the relevant qualifications and come out in a position where they are completely ready for the industry.”

Altogether the programme offers placements in all eight areas of the A.W. Lymn business, which includes, funeral arranging and directing, stone masonry, floristry, coffin preparation department, mortuary, fleet maintenance, driver/bearer and administration, at the end of the programme trainees will put everything they have learned into action at one of the funeral homes in the business.

Pete added: “We allocate time around all the different departments of the business, so trainees understand the role from each perspective of the team. We know from decades of running this successful fifth generation family business that becoming a funeral director is very often a vocation and not just a job and so it is of utmost importance that the people we train are given the best support, advice and direction possible during their training in order to nurture their passion for helping people at their time of greatest need.”

One of the first trainees to go through the programme was Jonathan Baker, starting in 2001, who has now risen through the ranks to the role of senior funeral director for the Mansfield area.

Jonathan joined A.W. Lymn while still at school studying for his A-levels. He said when he was given the choice of doing work experience, he turned to the funeral directors which led to him working through the school holidays as a bearer. He then approached the-then managing director at the time A.W. Lymn was introducing the trainee programme and so he was the first to go through it.

Jonathan, now aged 37, who is still working for A.W Lymn 20 years later, said: “I was originally drawn to the world of funeral directing because of the tradition and formality attached to the role, and the time spent throughout the programme ignited that passion. Being given the chance to experience every aspect of the business you can then go on to work in whatever department suits you best – there are so many opportunities.”

Nigel Lymn Rose, company chairman at A.W. Lymn, added: “Over the years we have witnessed first-hand the interest and passion for the funeral industry and wanted to offer an official training scheme for those wanting to pursue a career in our industry. Often people think that a job in funeral care means working with the dead – but that isn’t always the case, it’s more about looking after the living, which is what we like to demonstrate to our trainees.

“We’re proud to have been running the programme for over 20 years now and look forward to welcoming the new trainees this year.”

The fifth-generation family run business has been helping the bereaved for more than 100 years, with quality of service and value for money at the heart of its ethos. A.W. Lymn now operates 27 funeral homes throughout Nottinghamshire and South Derbyshire.

To apply for the next trainee position at A.W Lymn, visit www.lymn.co.uk.