Shaun Beer | Funeral Celebrant

My name is Shaun Beer; I was born in Awsworth, Nottingham in 1961, where I was then educated at Kimberley Comprehensive School from 1973-78. I qualified in 1981 as joiner developing numerous skills in the joinery field. I consequently became self-employed in 1984, running my own business for last thirty five years. I married my wife Debra in 1987, we have two children, a son and a daughter. My adult life has comprised of joyfully renovating different properties and moving house multiple times – much to the expense my suffering wife, longing for a home to be finally free from builders dust!

My current home for the last twelve years is an Old Rectory which is 400 years old. There is still lots to do on the building and so very little time for hobbies apart from taking care of my two German Shepherd`s who have the wonderful ability to free me from any woes.

After forty years in the trade, my body is asking for relief and so I have decided to look for a different avenue to pursue.

Having spent the last thirty five years meeting the general public on a daily basis and discussing their exciting new projects, it has given me valuable experience in communicating with different groups of people. This has given me time to understand what they value and learn what is important to them. In the year 2000 I became a school governor at Tollerton Primary School, becoming the Chair of Personnel and Pupil’ which involved leading a parent forum committee.

I left this role after four years where I then went on to become a local Parish Councillor for the village in 2007 spending nine years in this position - two of them as Vice Chair. This led to a huge commitment of time from dealing with dis-gruntled members of the public to the organisation of village life and events. In 2014 I became a member of the Parochial Church Council for Tollerton of which I am still active. All of the above was done on a voluntary basis.

I first developed an interest in Funeral Celebrancy after seeing how rewarding a friend described his experiences in the profession. He kindly invited me to witness one of his Crematorium services which included organising a tour by one of the staff to show me the full process of the committal right through to seeing the ashes ready for collection. Having spent most of my working life engaging with people from different backgrounds, I honestly feel that it would be a seamless transition for me to help people at this point in their lives. The responsibility of delivering a professional service at the end of a person`s life is profoundly important. I hope that I can offer a distraught family comfort at the end of a harrowing journey. Being able to help in their time of need would bring huge personal satisfaction.

Having chosen the right training to deliver a respectable, quality service, I hope I can use these skills in combination with my previous life experience to provide a ceremony worthy of the person, family and friends that I am grateful to represent.