It’s not everyone’s dream career, and Alison Storey often gets asked how she does her job.

But the mother-of-four is over the moon after passing her professional qualifications in the funeral service – the Diploma in Funeral Arranging and Administration.

Mrs Storey works for Rosedale Funeral Home, which has six branches including offices in Bungay, Halesworth and Beccles, where Mrs Storey is based.

The qualifications cover all aspects of making funeral arrangements personal to reflect the life of the person who has died, including care of the deceased, grief and bereavement, and arranging funerals for children, as well as assisting families with limited funds to apply for financial support towards the cost of a funeral.

Mrs Storey said: “I’m absolutely over the moon. It has been difficult at times to juggle the studying alongside working full time for Rosedale but my experience certainly helped and all my hard work has now paid off.”

Mrs Storey was tutored by Anne Beckett-Allen, director of Rosedale Funeral Home and tutor for the National Association of Funeral Directors.

She said: “It is a little known – and quite shocking fact that anyone can open a funeral directing business without any qualifications and that no license or regulation of any sort is necessary.

“Some small businesses don’t have any qualified staff, and some of the larger corporate organisations invest very little in continuing professional development.

“Staff training and development is something we take great pride in at Rosedale. By choosing a funeral professional who invests in staff training you can be certain that you are going to receive a high level of standards both in the care that you receive as a family as well as what goes on behind the scenes.”

Others interested in obtaining qualifications in the funeral profession can find more information by visiting www.rosedalefuneralhome.co.uk or call 01379 640810.