A former teacher has turned his hand to embalming after 22 years in the education sector.

John Redhead, of Ripley, is retraining with Nottingham-headquartered A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service to become a qualified embalmer, following a drastic career swap.

The 46-year-old, who worked as a head of year at a Derbyshire school, decided to make the change after falling out of love with teaching. He realised the same values of care and empathy he’d honed working in schools could also be used while looking after the deceased.

John now supports mortuary manager Isabel Walton at A.W. Lymn’s headquarters at Robin Hood House, Nottingham, as a trainee embalmer. His role involves caring for and preparing the body of a deceased person to meet the choices of the family or next of kin. This can range from whether they wish to be viewed or not, dressed in their own clothes or alternative garments, or have a burial or cremation.

Speaking on his career change, John said: “Teaching is all I’d ever known until I joined the funeral sector. I had a degree in it and had worked in schools for more than two decades, so there was a time I never thought I’d consider doing anything else, let alone working in the funeral industry.

“I’d always really enjoyed the pastoral element of my role as a teacher, but it was starting to feel like the job was all about achieving results, with every pupil’s worth based on their academic achievements. Leaving teaching was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made, especially not knowing what I wanted to do next.”

John first became interested in working in the industry after seeing an advert for a careers fair. He secured a role at another funeral directors before moving on to A.W. Lymn six months later, taking a job as a driver/bearer in Mansfield.

From there, he moved into the mortuary after realising his skills as a former PE teacher and his interest in anatomy could be used to help give the deceased the right send-off.

He added: “A.W. Lymn has an incredible reputation; I quickly knew they were a company I’d want to work for. Starting a second career can be scary, but ultimately when you break it down, both teaching and embalming are about care – whether you’re caring for a child in a secondary school, an elderly person in a care home or the deceased and their family. If you’ve got the skills inside you and that empathy for people, it’s not that much different at all.

“No two days in the mortuary are the same and I feel so fortunate that now, I look forward to going to work at the start of the week. Isabel and the whole team at A.W. Lymn have been so supportive throughout my transition.”

John is set to start a two-year external embalming qualification in June. Once completed, he will become a qualified embalmer and a member of the British Institute of Embalming.

Matthew Lymn Rose, managing director at A.W. Lymn, said: “The work our embalmers do in the mortuary is vital to ensuring that the bereaved we care for feel supported and that the deceased are treated with the utmost respect and dignity.

“We’re thrilled that John has been able to make such a seamless transition into the profession and are proud to support our staff who share our core values of quality of service and excellence, to achieve their potential.”