SAIF Golden Charter

SAIF NextGen: Invest in the future

SAIF NextGen relaunched officially at SAIF’s Education Day in November, with a brand-new look and a new vision.

Founders Inez Capps and Daniel Ginder have been joined by Nathan Martin, and are now spearheading a new chapter in the group’s role and ensuring the voices of younger SAIF members and new entrants to the profession are heard and their needs supported.

“SAIF NextGen is for new entrants and young people who may be getting support from their companies, but might just want to take a step back and talk to people they’re not working with every day,” says Nathan. “We are here for them – we are a group of professionals who can help if they come across a stumbling block, are struggling in their studies, or have ideas they don’t know how to present to their line managers or business owners. We can help them through all of that.”

Nathan also acknowledges that a greater number of officially recognised qualifications means that more and more young people are choosing funeral directing as a career path.

“When I was coming into the profession, it was a case of learning on the job. But now I’ve taken both of my diplomas, I’m actively involved in education within the profession, and personal development is something I’m really passionate about.”

In a nutshell, SAIF NextGen’s vision is to get a solid regional team behind it, host regional meetings across the UK and Ireland, and provide guest speakers on key subjects. This, plus informal meetings, and playing an active role in sector exhibitions and SAIF AGMs, will result in a stronger presence for the group.

“It has been suggested that each SAIF AGM or regional meeting could include a SAIF NextGen representative,” says Nathan. “That’s how we’ll take views and opinions to the table of SAIF.”

In the meantime, it’s daily posts on Facebook which will drive engagement, plus establishing a series of points of contact for new entrants and followers.

“There is no upper or lower age limit for involvement in the group – participants just need to be either new to the business, or be a young entrant,” says Nathan. “We’re completely focused and engaged because there’s so much potential with this opportunity. And with so many funeral directors opening up each week across the UK, it’s key that we get involved with them from the word go.”