Funeral Advice Training

green fuse provides training for independent funeral advisers. If you would like to provide these services as part of your work in end-of-life-care or on a voluntary basis, please go to the website of the New Bereavement and Funeral Trust, www.nbft.org.uk, a registered charity, which is also run by Jane Morrell and Simon Smith.

Part 1 Funerals Explained May 9th-10th, 

This two-day course provides you with an overview of funerals, funeral advice and new bereavement. It is participative and experiential, using a variety of learning methods including drama, role play and discussion. On completion you should be able to guide families on the main options that are open to them with regard to planning and arranging a funeral and support them to make decisions, as a Funeral Friend, and run a basic discussion group.

This open course is for up to 6 people and costs just £175 for the two days. If you would like to arrange a course in your area, please contact us.

You can add to the depth of your knowledge and skills in this area by joining additional two-day, in-depth training programmes for those who wish to make funeral advice a larger part of their work.

Part 2. Arranging A Funeral: on completion of the first two parts of the programme you will be able to inform, support and advise someone on the practicalities of what to do when someone dies, how to get quotes from funeral directors for specific tasks, how much everything costs and, through role play, have more experience of helping a family to think about and make their main choices with regard to caring for the body, choice of burial site, a venue for the ceremony and different coffins, urns and shrouds. You will also know the basics of what makes a good funeral and how the family can participate. Throughout the programme you will build self-awareness of your own attitudes and emotions with regard to death.

Part 3. Funeral Adviser Certificate: on completion of the whole programme, in addition to what you have achieved in the first four days, you will have learned more skills to talk to the dying and newly bereaved about funerals and be able to inform, support and advise them on all aspects of arranging a funeral, including dealing with the forms and paperwork, to the extent that if the family wish and are well-resourced they could do everything themselves guided by you. You will have learned about some of the less familiar options, for example burials on private land. On successful completion of the course and assignments you will receive a Funeral Conductor’s Certificate.

Funeral conducting and celebrancy

A book review in Pharos, the magazine of the Cremation Society Of Great Britain (Autumn 2007) of Which’s What To Do When Someone Dies, highlighted the trend towards family-centred, participative funerals. John Pearce writes “Taken with the rise of secular funerals it implies that church-style funerals will decline further, and the Humanist model, resting on a single celebrant with minimal input from others, will increasingly be felt too controlled and directive. We Need To Talk About The Funeral is by some margin the best guide available for all those who want to shake off existing conventions. (It) displays an awareness of feeling, as well as ceremonial skill, from which any celebrant will learn a great deal.”

This training is by the authors of We Need To Talk About The Funeral and experienced funeral conductors, Jane Morrell and Simon Smith.

Funeral Conducting and Celebrancy: Part 1

This introduces you to the role of the funeral conductor and what makes a good funeral ceremony both in terms of structure and content. We explore the aims and structure of a ceremony, choosing and personalising a venue, words, music and content, the eulogy and creating a sense of ritual. You will also receive training in interviewing and being with a family at a time of distress.

There will be assignments to complete before proceeding to days 4 and 5.

Funeral Conducting and Celebrancy: Part 2

Building on the knowledge of the first three days you develop the skills and confidence needed to conduct a funeral, including presentation, creating a safe space for emotions, directing proceedings, liasing with funeral directors and crematorium staff, different types of funeral ceremony which reflects the character and beliefs of the person who has died, ceremonies for sudden, early and complicated deaths, as well as memorial and ashes ceremonies. You will also look at promoting your services to the public and the funeral trade and pricing.

On completion of the course and assignments you will be given a mentor with whom you discuss the first five funerals you conduct. Once you have successfully completed this, you will receive your full Funeral Conductor’s and Celebrant’s Certificate.

The cost of the course is £950 for up to 6 participants.

Funeral Flowers Workshop

Flowers carry expressions of love and loss, warmth and trust, friendship and intimacy, regrets and memories. Ephemeral and beautiful, flowers thoughtfully selected and arranged are able to convey these messages silently and powerfully. Jane Morrell’s practical one-day workshop teaches you to choose and arrange flowers to express what is needed for each funeral.

how to book a course

To book a short or full training programme, please send us an email us to simon@greenfuse.co.uk or telephone us on 01803 840779 and we will provide you with a pre-course pack including dates and venues, prices, questionnaire and application form.

The full Funeral Adviser Certificate programme is spread over twelve months and the Funeral Conductor training approximately six months. Both require further time for reading, assignments, portfolios and supervised practical experience before gaining accreditation.

You can also book talks to inform a work or community based group about liminal bereavement and funerals.

If you would like to organise an in-house or local course, we can provide publicity materials and the training.