First Funeral Celebrant to achieve the NOCN Level 4 Advanced Practice Diploma in Funeral Celebrancy

We are delighted to announce that Kirstie Atherton, based in Widnes, is the first ever funeral celebrant to successfully complete the new Advanced Practice Level 4 national qualification, completing it in just 9 months, from January to September 2024.

Kirstie has been a practicing funeral celebrant in the northwest since she achieved the Level 3 Diploma with Civil Ceremonies in 2021.

Anne Barber, Managing Director of Civil Ceremonies Ltd who developed the new qualification in partnership with awarding body NOCN (National Open College Network), says ‘We are thrilled that Kirstie has achieved this advanced level qualification. She is the first ever person to do so, and it is a huge achievement. Kirstie completed the course assignments at a very high standard and used the course materials to great effect. The Level 4 Diploma is all about progression for practicing funeral celebrants and taking existing skills to a new level. The feedback we have received from the celebrants currently studying for the diploma supports that it really does provide excellent progression.’

Kirstie is pictured here receiving her certificate from Anne, who talked with Kirstie about why she decided to take the Level 4 Diploma and how she feels she has benefitted from it:

Kirstie, what made you decide to study for the Level 4 Diploma in Advanced Funeral Celebrancy?

I love my work. When a family trusts someone to craft a ceremony to mark the end of their person’s life, they deserve that trust to be repaid by getting the very best. As funeral professionals we have one shot at this, it has to be right. I am always striving to make sure that this is exactly what my families get. It’s essential that, not only am I well-qualified, but that I see my qualifications as something which should be continually enhanced. Just as in all other professions, continual development is essential. Since undertaking my initial training in 2021, I’ve consciously sought out other training and development opportunities so that my ceremonies and my working practices are continually evolving and being enhanced.

When I heard that the Level 4 qualification had been made available, I did not hesitate to apply straight away. As I’d completed my initial training with Civil Ceremonies, I knew the level of quality to expect from them. I trusted that this training would be the best available, and so knew that it would be my obvious next step. I was excited to be at the forefront of another leap forward in our industry and in helping to further legitimise and professionalise the role of the celebrant. Funeral celebrancy is a hugely competitive field, and so it’s incumbent on celebrants to do all they can to stand out and to illustrate that not all celebrants are created equal.

What do you think is the greatest benefit the course has given you?

Firstly, it gives you a shake-up. There are large pockets of our industry which are extremely resistant to change. People have their way of doing things and often aren’t able to appreciate how embracing change offers such enormous benefits for them and for the families they support. It’s tricky sometimes as a celebrant to not allow yourself to just go along with this. Whilst I thought my work was still fresh and innovative, the course made me recognise (literally from page 1!) that there were elements within my working practices which were already at risk of becoming a little safe or staid. Overshadowed perhaps by this pervading notion that what we currently offer is all that there is, all that the bereaved ever need.

The course has also made me want to study and discover even more. Ours is a mis-understood profession, people see the 20 minutes standing ‘reading’ at the lectern of a crematorium, without having any notion of all of the hours and hours of work which has preceded that day and made that day possible. For too long people have been short-changed on the content of funeral services and this course helps to broaden and deepen the knowledge which underpins all of the skills which give those 20 minutes the potential to be some of the most impactful of people’s lives. The confidence which that depth of knowledge has brought to me has enhanced every part of my work. It’s also made me consciously make space to look at my work and to see where it can be actively improved. The families I work with deserve the very best and knowing that all that I do is underpinned by this raft of knowledge, and this commitment to continual improvement, enables me to give them that.

Were there any aspects of the course that you feel were most beneficial?

Vocal coaching! This is something I had no real appreciation of the value of before I actually did it. Spending some time with a vocal coach was always something on my training to-do list, but was (in all honesty) never really that close to the top. Now I would say that it’s something which I consciously work on daily.  It makes me smile now to think about how blasé I was about this. Like a paramedic who never took their ambulance for an MOT, or a hairdresser who never had their scissors sharpened. As celebrants our only tools are our ears and our voices, the fact that I was doing so little to take care of my voice seems comical to me now. Our voices, when not cared for, are so vulnerable. Especially for us in a role in which some weeks find you being hugged outside crematoriums by too many strangers to count (all those common cold germs!). A celebrant without a strong, clear, healthy voice is of no use to anyone.

How helpful did you find the feedback that you received as you worked through the course sections?

One of the best things about the training Civil Ceremonies offers is just how thorough it is. In terms of content, but also in terms of feedback. The feedback received is absolutely invaluable and clearly shows the level of attention to detail that those assessing the work provide. Feedback is of course essential when missing a point, or getting something wrong, but the beauty of the feedback on this course is that it is so much more than just this. It’s almost like a dialogue. In which the question opens a discussion and your answer continues it rather than completes it or closes it down. The feedback provided is of course there to correct and to support, but it’s also there to encourage in a way that provokes further curiosity in the student.

There are interactive sessions within the course programme, how helpful did you find these?

I am an incredibly old-fashioned learner. Interactive sessions which take place online are never something which I relish. There is a clear need for these within the course though and (as those studying are by definition already working in the field) there really isn’t any practical alternative than to do these virtually. The online one to one with the voice coach was enormously helpful. I especially appreciated these being individual sessions too, as it could then be specifically tailored which I appreciated hugely. The interactive session at Obitus HQ was such a fantastic opportunity. There is no substitute for spending time in the company of people who are passionate about what they do, and this day was really inspiring. In an industry which all too often seems to rest on its laurels, to see real innovators striving to move things forwards was so buoying and very much appreciated.

And finally Kirstie, why do you love the work of a funeral celebrant so much?

I understand the level of responsibility that I have and finding the threads of the life that are not obvious to start with. I truly believe the job is not about talking – but all about listening and it really is a vocation.’

Kirstie is not stopping here though; she is about to embark on a Phd research project on how a funeral impacts how families move forward with their grief.

For further information about the Level 4 Diploma, which is open to any practicing funeral celebrant, see https://www.civilceremonies.co.uk/level-4-diploma-funeral-celebrancy, email ku.oc.seinomereclivic@ofni or call 01480 276080.