Why teacher swapped roles to be Harrogate funeral director in dramatic life change

New £2 million homeless hostel in Harrogate is launched

David Moon has joined Harrogate-based Full Circle Funerals after spending a decade as a high school teacher in South West London.

Originally from Yorkshire, he moved back with his wife and two young children to be closer to family.

His life changed course when his sister spotted an advert in the window of the Skipton Road funeral directors.

“My sister knew that the part of my job I enjoyed most was having a positive impact on people’s lives, so although it might seem like a big change there are a lot of similarities between the two jobs,” recalls David.

“If you had told me last year that my next career move would be into the funeral industry, I would not have believed it, but it has turned out to be an incredibly rewarding role that enables me to provide care and support to others.”

David comes from a family of nurses and believes this has helped him deal with some of the more physical aspects of the job.

“Caring was all around me when I was growing up and that’s given me a good grounding and an understanding of the need to be gentle and thoughtful when carrying out my work,” he explains.

Despite this, he admits to having had doubts about the shift in career.

“I’ve faced challenging situations as a teacher and supported students and families through difficult conversations but I did wonder if I would know the right things to say to people who have been recently bereaved,” he says.

“I now realise it’s all about trusting myself to navigate those conversations and my past experiences in school have proved to be very helpful.”

As a high school teacher and head of performing arts, David gained an understanding of how powerful music can be as a means of self-expression.

“I supported students to compose their own music and the lyrics were often very personal and sometimes quite dark as they channelled their emotions through music,” he recalls.

“I felt extremely privileged to have shared in some of the most significant moments in the lives of the young people I have taught.”

David believes his knowledge and love of music may come in useful in the future as he develops his role with Full Circle.

“I am no stranger to organising and facilitating community events and concerts and should a family have a strong interest in how music is incorporated into the funeral, I am confident I can enable them to make positive and meaningful choices,” he says.

“Changing careers can feel really daunting but I would really encourage people to consider it. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to bring everything that you have learnt and experienced and apply it to a new profession – especially one as fulfilling as funeral care.”

Harewood House announces Alfie Boe and more in Picnic Proms Summer Series as outdoor concerts return

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.