About us

At Rosedale, we believe that providing the very best of bereavement support goes hand in hand with helping our clients arrange a funeral for their loved one. Established in 2004 as an independent business, we focus on the needs of bereaved families. Our funeral directors in Norfolk and Suffolk, have hundreds of years of experience between them.

Simon and Anne are the Company Directors of Rosedale Funeral Home. They live in Scole and have three children Harriet, Thomas and Victoria-Rose, a dog and two cats.

From Rosedale’s conception Simon has been responsible for refurbishing each of the funeral homes to an extremely high standard, ensuring a homely and comfortable environment for families to make funeral arrangements. In his spare time, as well as being a keen chef and holding a private pilot’s licence, Simon is currently building an RV12 light aircraft.

Anne joined the funeral profession at the age of 16 and is now one of the most highly qualified funeral directors in the country. Anne invests a lot of her time tutoring students for the Diploma in Funeral Directing and has also been a VQ Assessor and a lecturer at Bath University for the Foundation Degree in Funeral Services. Anne is also a Trustee of Nelson’s Journey, a charity dedicated to supporting bereaved children and young people throughout Norfolk. In her spare time she completes endurance triathlons.

Simon and Anne are supporters of the Diss Friends of Chernobyl Children, both with fundraising and hosting children from Belarus in their own home every summer. They also are involved in the various Christmas shoe box appeals, wrapping and packing shoe boxes for disadvantaged children and families in under privileged circumstances, both abroad, and for local refuges for women.

What we do

We offer a 24 hour service and can offer pre-planned funeral plans if required. We can visit the client in their own home to make the funeral arrangements and can help organise a personal and bespoke funeral as a fitting tribute to the deceased.

Of course, any good Funeral Director should be providing these services, so read on to find out what makes us different:

• We will give advice and support on funeral grants and bereavement benefits that most families don’t even know they are entitled to

• We are competitively priced – in some cases, such as for children or for the homeless, we don’t charge for our funerals

• If a family has a bereaved child we will give them a memory box or teddy bear, and work with their school to ensure the staff are trained to provide the support that is needed

• We run bereavement support groups and provide practical support such as for cooking for one or budgeting and paying bills

We are an independent family business – we believe it makes a difference.

Careers

It is often said that the funeral service is a vocation rather than a job, and it is easy to see why. Staff need to have varied skills and a genuine desire to offer as much help, guidance and assistance as is required by the bereaved families we are called upon to serve. Working in the funeral service is by no means an easy career option but, it will certainly be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding.

What qualities will I need?

Care, compassion and the ability to absorb other peoples’ distress without if affecting you personally requires a very special personality. You will need to become accustomed to the various types of bereavement and the various stages of grief through which bereavement progresses, whilst never losing the emotional strength needed to cope with the massive range of feelings people display, as reactions vary greatly from person to person. You must accept that this is no ordinary job with set hours of work. The funeral service operates 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, in all weathers and in any circumstances. Death does not respect Bank Holidays, personal situations or private lives.

What skills do I need to become a funeral director?

The ability to communicate with colleagues and clients is very important and you will also need to have strong organisational skills. You’ll need to find the balance between necessary routine and outstanding customer service and then combine this with a caring, almost protective attitude. You will learn how to guide your clients through the emotional and traumatic experiences they are being subjected to, often for the first time in their lives.

There are a wide range of jobs to choose from within the funeral service profession: funeral director; coffin bearer; embalmer; administrator; bereavement counsellor; civil funeral celebrant; mortuary assistant to name a few.

Depending upon the role you are interested in, there are a series of training and education programmes and qualifications open to you.

The National Association of Funeral Directors offers a variety of nationally recognised courses, all of which are delivered locally on the Norfolk Suffolk border by Rosedale Funeral Training.