On a bitterly cold afternoon in March Edinburgh Live visited Oakdale Funeral Home the HQ of Scotland's family-run funeral director William Purves that has been helping locals say goodbye for generations.
Having been through the process recently myself when a close family member died days into the new year, it was eye-opening to see everything that happens behind the scenes to ensure families can say goodbye to loved one's in their own way.
I met Charlie Finlayson, 28, from Broxburn and Peter Liddell, 33, from Kingsknowe, who are both young dads that have found a life purpose working in the funeral industry.
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Both told of how fulfilling the role is and explained that every day is different as they work with up to 14 grieving families at a time when directing funerals.
They also explained the challenges of dealing with the death of children and shock deaths with tragic circumstances which can be harder to navigate.
First I spoke to dad Peter who lives in Queensferry and has returned to the firm after going to university and spending years working as a joiner.
He said: "I started as a funeral directive trainee last March and I was on my own for the first time by July. It takes a couple of months for you to gain confidence before you get up and running.
"Some people take two or three months some people take six months to gain enough confidence to go solo but there is no pressure there, it takes as long as it takes.
"You need to understand how to deal with families and know what to say because you don't know what questions will be thrown at you.
"As a funeral operative, you are more just in the background supporting a funeral director through the funeral but as a funeral director you are with the family right from the start through to the end and you are dealing with all the communication."
"Part of gaining confidence is organising a funeral yourself" He added.
One difficult aspect of the job is dealing with the funerals of young babies and children which can be really harrowing.
Peter explained: "A lot of us have got young children at home, my wife is about to give birth any minute and all the guys have kids so whenever there is a child's funeral it really hits home.
"Recently my colleague had to create a playlist for a child's funeral with just Disney music and now he can't really listen to Disney music anymore.
"His child was about the same age as the child he was preparing the funeral for so it can be really hard.
"They don't happen as much as usual funerals but they do happen from time to time and we have to deal with it and be professional but we are human and we do have emotions.
"There are times when something hits home.
"In the middle of the night for example we get do calls, so as a funeral director, you get the first call from the family and you are speaking to someone who has just lost someone. You could be in their house within the hour before you bring them into our care here.
"When you get back into your own bed in your house you just remember how lucky you are to have your family around you.
"I just hug my wife a little bit tighter."
The William Purves Edinburgh Hub will deal with around 15 funerals on a daily basis and there is an operations room filled with huge bright screens that show the dozens of meetings and funerals taking place at branches across the country.
One main responsibility of a funeral director is to stay organised and make sure that each family is looked after to the highest standard.
He continued: "Every day is different. It's easy to say that but you come in and your plans will change.
"You can be looking after eight to 14 families in one go, so you have to be able to switch between each family and they are all as important as each other.
"This happened to me on Monday, I was working in the office and got a phone call from the operations manager who told me someone had just walked into the Chesser office so I had to go and meet them straight away."
The family-run firm has had a recent hand of the guards, with an influx of young recruits, including apprentices joining just as a number of long-term employees retire.
William Purves welcomed Charlie Finlayson who was attracted to the industry having had witnessed the impact of bereavement.
Charlie was just 23 years-old when he started at Oakvale Funeral Home and after three years at the company can't imagine doing anything else.
Charlie said: "I was 23 when I started at William Purves, I was fortunate that I knew people in the company already and I was looking for a new job.
"Before I was working in retail at Krispy Kreme and spent a year working in a church so I did lots of different things but nothing like this job.
"I started as an operative director - you probably have about a day of training and really learn on the job."
Operative Directors assist through every step of the way at a funeral from driving cars to sorting flowers and it is a pathway to becoming a funeral director who works with families first-hand.
Charlie told of his first time directing a funeral solo. He said: "I knew roughly what to expect when I changed from a funeral operative to a funeral director.
"You are going into it with a work mindset, you are trying to learn from the families but it is a very hard moment so you are very cautious you don't want to add to their tension so you just sit back and take it all in.
"My family saw it as a good opportunity and you get a very different reaction from your family who knows that it fits your character and personality well
"Whereas if you meet someone for the first time and tell them you work in the funeral industry they find it a bit strange.
"Helping families at the worst point of their life is probably the most rewarding part - the opportunity to help them in any way."
On managing dealing with loss and grief on a daily basis Charlie said: "From my point of view that side of it is all fairly new to me. When you were just doing the driving you didn't really take it home as much and you knew what you were doing the next day.
"But now as a funeral director, it does play on your mind a lot more. You go home questioning if you have done everything because you want that funeral to be perfect for the family.
"Being part of a big company and doing a lot of funerals in a day can be a challenging aspect.
"The organisation side is hard and the logistics can be stressful at times. Organising a wedding in Scotland takes around two years, whereas for a funeral it's around two weeks.
"They aren't the same but many of the elements are and it's a good way to put into perspective the sheer volume of logistics involved."
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The close-knit team always look out for each other and as a company know how important it is to check in on staff's mental well-being.
Charlie explained: "Funerals of young babies and tragic circumstances are hard. These are real families in terribly distressing situations and they are being supported by real people.
"Whilst we very are good at our jobs and there is a shield we put up, there has to be a lot of compassionate internal care provided and we have to be really alert all the time to make sure no one is internalising that and taking that pressure home."
You can find out more about a career in the funeral industry and local family business William Purves here.
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