Congratulations to four members of our team who have recently been presented with certificates after completing their studies and taking exams for the Certificate in Funeral Arranging and Administration (Cert.FAA) course. This is a 12-week course that is designed specifically for those in the frontline of funeral service and is ideal for people that have several years of experience as well as relatively new staff.
The course was run by the London Association of Funeral Directors (LAFD), which is an area association of the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD). The NAFD is the pre-eminent trade association in the UK for the funeral profession and represents over 80% of all funeral directors in the country, including WA Truelove & Son Ltd.
We are very proud to say that all four members of our staff did extremely well in the exams, and in particular Alexander Mather, who is based at our Head Office on Carshalton Road in Sutton, Surrey. Alex not only passed with Distinction, but also achieved the highest marks on the course, and as a result received the President’s Award. Alex is pictured on the left of the group photo with his certificate and is also shown receiving the President’s Award from the outgoing President of the London Association of Funeral Directors, Mr Matthew Barber.
The other three members of staff, Julie Peacock, Sharon Vickery and Barry Ring (pictured from left to right in the group photo), all passed with Merit, which is a fantastic achievement. As a result, all four are now qualified funeral arrangers.
The four members of staff sat their exams in December 2017 and were presented with their certificates by Mr Barber at the London Association of Funeral Directors’ 73rd Annual General Meeting (AGM). This took place at the Amba Hotel in Charing Cross, London, on Thursday 19th April 2018. Over 70 members attended the very busy meeting, which the LAFD have written about in an article here. The LAFD article also includes mentions of our four team members success.
Commenting on their excellent results, the Managing Director of WA Truelove & Son Ltd, Simon Truelove, said: “To have four of our staff do so well in the exams is quite an achievement and adds four more qualified funeral arrangers to the company. I am extremely proud of them all.”
Both Alex and Barry are based at our Head Office. Alex is a local man who was educated at Selsdon High School in South Croydon and John Ruskin College in Addington Village, London. Prior to working at WA Truelove & Son Ltd he was a qualified gym instructor and lifeguard at South Norwood Leisure Centre. The leisure centre closed in 2005, so Alex looked for work and saw an advert for a driver/bearer vacancy here at Truelove’s. Alex had always had an interest in the funeral procession, so successfully applied for the job, performing very well in the interview despite finding the driving test rather intimidating, having never driven anything larger than a Renault Clio before! He joined the company on 6th June 2005, but eleven years later he felt that he needed to spend more time with his children and left to become a postman in November 2016. Alex quickly realised that he had made a mistake and returned to work at Truelove’s six months later in May 2017. Alex has lots to celebrate, as not only has he been successful in his exams, but he has also recently been promoted and is now a funeral conductor and arranger. Alex also acts as a relief manager, covering branches when the managers are on holiday or on sick leave. He enjoys helping people on a daily basis, through sad and emotional times, which gives him great satisfaction and is something that he hopes to continue to do for many more years.
Barry is also a local man, who grew up in the Sutton and Wallington area and attended Wallington County Grammar School. Before coming to work at Truelove’s he had mainly been employed in customer focused roles and wanted to join us as we have a well-established history of client care. Barry felt that we were the sort of company in which he could excel and provide the sort of service that he himself would expect. Barry joined the company on 8th July 2014 as a part-time driver and bearer before becoming a full-time member of the team six months later in January 2015. In addition to his role as a driver/bearer, Barry is also a relief manager, covering branches when the managers are on holiday or sick leave. Outside of work Barry enjoys acting and has also hosted the radio station at a local hospital.
Julie Peacock and Sharon Vickery run both our Worcester Park and Motspur Park branches between them. These branches are two of our new branches, with the Worcester Park branch having opened on 22nd June 2015, and the Motspur Park branch having opened on the 3rd January 2017. Julie and Sharon both joined WA Truelove & Son Ltd on the same day – 31st May 2017.
Julie was brought up in nearby Raynes Park, so knows the local area very well. Before joining WA Truelove & Son Ltd she had a long career with the NHS, working as a Clinical Coder, Clinical Systems Trainer and Outpatients Reception Team Leader. She did this for twenty-four years and spent twenty-one of those working at nearby St. Helier Hospital in Sutton. Julie left her role with the NHS in 2013 to care for her parents, both of whom were very ill. When she returned to work, she joined Cheam High School, helping students that needed extra support in lessons, and then rejoined the NHS in 2015. Julie has always felt the need to help and support people and when her father died she realised that she would like to work in the funeral profession so that she can help the families we serve and look after their loved ones with dignity and respect.
Sharon was also born and bred in the local area, having been born in North Cheam. As a child she attended Nonsuch High School for Girls in Cheam and spent most of her weekends at her Nan’s house in Seaforth Gardens, so she also knows the area very well. When she finished school, she went to work at NatWest in Kingston for twelve years, before moving to Worcester Park when she married. She left NatWest to raise her family. When she returned to work, she became a Teaching Assistant at her local Primary School and gained her Level 3 Teaching Assistant and Emotional Support Assistant qualifications. When Sharon’s parents became ill, she decided that she would like to offer help and support to more people and the best place to do this would be in the funeral profession.
Congratulations to all four of them on their well-deserved success!
For more information about WA Truelove & Son Ltd and our funeral services, please get in touch with us.
