But in this newsbeat documentary, we meet some of the young people who are dedicated to working with the deceased, with a warning that the programme contains some pictures of people who have recently died. Its the most rewarding job i think i could ever, ever do. Every time i go, i bounce out of bed in the morning, and i dont feel like im going to any work. Its what i want to do for the rest of my life. Thanks for hearing me ramble. I will see you soon, hopefully. Bye. There you go, all done. Shoulders please, gentlemen. Death, its the only certainty in life. But for some, its a passion, a vocation, a career. Im a bit nervous, but obviously really excited at the same time. Ellie and ben are 17, but they are surrounded by death. Sams job takes him around the world. Luke is one of the uks youngest funeral home bosses. Hes trying to survive in an industry which demands sensitivity, sympathy and seriousness. Be careful with those flowers. How do teenagers and twentysomethings fit in . Be patient, keep your mouth shut, youll be fine. Im quite happy being around death, because ive always liked to be different. This industry is certainly different. When 17 year old ellie isnt at college, she spends her spare time working at a funeral home in nottingham, training to be an undertaker. Im ellie, im calling from aw lymn the family funeral service. And today, shes making whats called a first call. She will talk to a relative of someone whos died and was brought in overnight. Its a particularly sensitive job. Theres no script to follow. Emotions are raw, and relatives upset. Most new recruits will train on thejob, overseen by more experienced undertakers. Essential when something doesnt go to plan. No problem. Tony, they dont actually want to use us. They want to use somebody in birmingham. We can arrange all the cremation forms for them. Right, 0k. So. And they need to register here. Right, ok, thats no problem. Hi, we will complete all of the cremation forms for you here. Yes, well need to see the green form, the death certificate. Ok, thats no problem. Thank you very much. Bye bye. Bless. So, do i actually need to put that onto an arrangement form or not . I think she did 0k. I think she did all right. There were one or two little bits of information that could have been given, but obviously that will come as time progresses. Ellies colleague ben is also 17. Hes training on the job after his School Careers adviser suggested he become an undertaker. He spends much of his time working behind the scenes, but is about to step up to a new role. Im on call tonight, and its my first ever time on call properly, so thats kind of removals at night. A lot of the other guys are telling me a lot about nights. Mixed opinions, some like it, some dont. Everyone likes the money. Thats the reason why are a lot of them are doing it. Ben knows collecting dead bodies at night is all part of the job, and a part of his training. Hell be on call from 6pm tonight until 8am tomorrow morning, although hes not passed his driving test yet so hell be spending the night with someone hes never worked with before. Definitely tired, definitely didnt enjoy waking up. Its something ive been looking forward to a little bit. I think more just spending time with andy is the best thing about it. I heard hes one of the best, so hell show me what its really all about. Ive bigged you up there mate its just after midnight, and ben and andy have been called out to an address just outside nottingham where someone has died earlier in the evening. This is the sharp end of undertaking, turning up promptly, looking awake, and having the right demeanour. Few expect to see a teenager on their doorstep. Its definitely the right place. Yes. Once inside the property, the pair have to be ready to offer support and help, no matter what time of night it is. As it turns out, the collection goes smoothly and they are back out within ten minutes. How was it . It wasnt bad, yeah. You know, its never nice to have to go somewhere and pick up a deceased. As i say, its not nice, but unfortunately that is part of life and its a part of ourjob and what we do. You might go to an address and there might be someone maybe the same age as you, maybe a little bit older, and that when it starts to dawn on you that anythings possible. With a body on board, ben and andy are now en route to one of their nearby mortuaries. It can be stored there in the fridge until their colleagues arrange a funeral date with the dead persons family. I remember the first time that i touched a dead body. I can rememberfeeling quite faint. Now, its a normal everyday thing. Ive always hoped that there is some sort of life after death. However, working in this industry and seeing the harsh reality of death every day does make that a lot harder to believe. When i was 15, a close Family Member decided to take their own life, and ifound the body. As horrible as it sounds, i was really interested in the Science Behind the state of the body when i found it. Also, i went to the hospital to view the body and i was really interested in the sounds and the noises that were going on in the background. When the funeral came around, i was really, really interested in how they got the day to run so smoothly. Phone rings hello, luke allum funeral directors. Yeah, if i can take your address please. Illjust grab a pen. While ellie and ben are both very young, luke is a slightly older youngertaker. He is 25, and running his own business after starting as an apprentice at a local firm. Call out. So just through here, this is my mortuary. This is where pretty much the magic happens. So, this is myjob where the loved one comes back to me. I want them to look the best they possibly can. I want their family to feel like theyre at peace now, they look like theyre just sleeping. This is where my time is spent. So, Little Things in here. A lot of people think can they have their teeth, and some people dont find their teeth. We have Different Things like mouth formulas. We have eye caps. Obviously, the eyes will always sink into the back of the head, so we can either inject the eye to bring the eye forward, or we can put an eye cap in which gives a nice natural look in the eye, which will make them just look like theyre asleep. We want to have a nice full eye, and not a sunken eye. This side of the room here, i bring the stretcher in with their loved one. I get a tray out, its all pumped up, so you literallyjust pump up and bring the tray out. I put their loved one nicely onto the tray, slide them into the fridge and close the door. I want people to Start Talking and say, that boy puts a lot of time and effort in. At the end of the day, im only 25. Im here for a long time. When do i retire . 42 years time im going to retire, when im 67. So ive onlyjust started paying into my pension. Lukes dreaming big, but before that, he has to make it through the first few months to keep the real grim reaper at bay. The bank manager. You cant pick and choose when the funerals are going to come in. I wanted three by christmas, which means we can pay the bills, the wages, the funeral can go ahead. You never know where its going to go. 200 miles away, and 20 year old sam is in paris. The uk funeral industry isntjust about burials and cremations. Another side of the business involves moving dead bodies from one country to another. So, if youre happy, well drink up and well get on the road. Hes travelled to france with his big boss, bill, for the first time, to visit one of europess largest funeral trade shows. Sam alsojoined his company as an apprentice, and now arranges repatriations to and from the uk by talking with authorities and governments around the world on behalf of bereaved families. But today is all about business. Ive come abroad. Ive come to an exhibition which, if im honest, is far bigger than i expected it to be. Ive got my manager here looking over me, ive got an objectives list for people i want to see and things i want to know, so theres the pressure on to get round this big exhibition, meet everyone i want to, and take Something Back to work that i can say yeah, this trip was successful. So the pressures on. Imagine that rocking up. On sams youngertaker shoulders rests his companys relationship with key business partners. When a person dies abroad and their family want the body brought home, sam helps with the arrangements. He relies on building relationships with funeral firms in Different Countries to do that. Ok, ill take a step back and let you dive in with both feet. Yeah, absolutely. Theres one man in particular he wants to meet up with to improve his companys european business, although finding him at the big exhibition without speaking the language is proving a bit difficult. And that hasnt escaped bills attention. No one you know . Fabrice kana is head of one of europes largest repatriation firms, and getting him on side could be worth thousands of pounds to sams bosses. Hows the event . Its fine. Yeah . Hmm. Interrupting this key contact while hes meeting with another company isnt the most experienced way of attracting new business. Ok, give mejust five minutes. No worries. 0k. Be right back. Cheers, bye. Thank you. Its not long before he returns to introduce sam to the rest of his team. The next few minutes will be a key test. Let me introduce you tojonathan. It hasnt always been easy for sam to build relationships in an industry dominated by older people. If a youngertakers challenge is to show a gravitas and maturity at funerals, here it is about schmoozing, boozing and bagging deals. I suppose, if i was going to criticise sam, its sometimes he does flush a little bit when he first goes into that meeting. But once he settles down, hes quite comfortable in that relationship. Now we have inroads not only to fabrice, but to the whole of his team. That gives us a greater impact, a greater buy in, and if we walk away from this and thats the only thing we get then i am really happy with how thats gone. Hes always so cool, you know . He speaks so low, you know . Hes not so. Laughter done it again. How do you get these up . Im not very good at this. Back in nottingham, ben and ellies training is continuing. Theyre both spending the afternoon in the coffin workshop being overseen by andy. You did nothing different. I think its going really well, actually. Obviously i had that call the other week, and there was a bit of feedback on it and there were a few improvements. But since ive been back in the office and done a few more, which have gone really well. Obviously ive been observed, but they went absolutely perfectly, so the feedback worked, really. Ellie and bens training is being ramped up later this week. Theyve been invited to kent to join lukes small team of undertakers for a day and help with one of the biggest funerals his new business has ever booked. Its not really nerve racking. Its more exciting, i think. Im excited. I dont know about you, ellie, but im actually kind of excited about it. Ive never been to kent either, so. Yeah, no, i think hes done really well to get this size funeral so early on. I want to know what hes doing so well. If theres going to be a lesser number of you, like you say, youve got to be extra special. You cant describe how weird it is. You go home and what have you done today . Oh, ivejust, you know, ive cleaned some sick up and ive got some bogeys out of a dead body. Its absurd, really. This is going to be one of the biggest funerals that ive done today. Theres going to be over 250 people. Weve got 150 orders of service. Luke only opened his funeral home in september, and today is a day he really needs to get right. Its essential the next few hours go well as he tries to build his business and get more funerals in the future. This fresh boss doesnt need any youngertaker slip ups. Does anybody have any questions . Everybody know what theyre doing . Yes. Super, thank you. Ellie and ben, come with me, well go and close down the coffin. Lukes team have less than an hour to get the coffin ready, the flowers sorted, and the hearse prepared. One slight mistake and lukes reputation will be on the line. Turn it towards me. Theyre quite stiff. Towards me, mate. Other way. Other way thats it, keep going. Keep going. No, the other way that way . Yeah. Ellie, you go and show him what to do. Well done, ellie. Thank you. Glad youre here. 0k. With the clock ticking, luke has to make sure everything is in place and running on time to avoid missing his slot at the crematorium. Be careful with the flowers. After three, lift in. One, two, three. Wheels. Mind yourfingers when youre pushing. Just have the pillow on the back as well, please. Right. Lets make a move. Ready . Lets go. Its been a stressful morning, but luke has managed to stick to schedule. Hell now accompany the hearse to pick up the dead persons family and friends, paging, or walking in front, as it leaves his shop. Its a gesture of respect. While hes doing that, ellie and ben arrive at the crematorium to ensure the chapel and orders of service are set up correctly, all before luke and the hearse arrive. Music break apart by bonobo feat rhye. Shoulders please, gentlemen. Thank you, ben. Forward, gentlemen, thank you. Ladies, gentlemen, family and friends, would you like to follow me into the chapel, please . Music continues. When youre getting the grandad out, obviously do one at a time. Its not attached. With the service underway, ellie and bens responsibilities continue. They have to unload the rest of the hearse, and lay the familys flowers out on display. But will they meet lu kes high standards . We need to swap the dad and the grandad round, only because he was dad before he was a grandad. Just swap them round a little bit, please. Great at all times. Cant fault it. Really happy. Now, were going to get warm, quick cup of tea, get the young ones in, get them sorted, and then wait for the bell to go, carry on with the service. Bell chimes. I really liked how you ran it, actually. You did a very good job. Thank you. I think it was very inspiring to see. To say youve only been going a couple of months, to what youve got, is amazing. Thank you for coming down. Luke has left ellie and ben feeling inspired, but being your own boss isnt the only option open to these youngerta kers. Many funeral firms offer in house training, helping their trainees with industry backed courses, and thats something ellie is looking at. Her boss jacqui has brought her along to meet one of her older colleagues, who is also called ellie. Morning, everyone. Hi, kate. Im feeling very nervous. Yeah, its been a long morning. Itsjust been a sleepless night, a long morning. There are few moments in the funeral business where undertakers can show their emotions. Could this be one of them . I passed they cheer. Oh, im so relieved well done ellie, and the others we follow, have all found their own way to become youngerta kers in an industry traditionally run by family firms. They now have to decide how they will continue with their career in one of the worlds oldest professions. I dont think i will ever get bored of the job, and ill neverfind anotherjob that you can. You can show your true self in. So i love supporting people, i love helping people, i care about people, and im a very empathetic person. I can use these qualities to help me in thejob, and also i think that its such a rewarding job. For example, when somebody goes into the chapel and says they look absolutely amazing when youve made them up. Or at the end of a funeral when somebody is genuinely so thankfulfor you, and for all that youve done for them, i dont think youd get that feeling anywhere else. Hello there. It looks like sundays going to be a brighter day than certainly what we had on saturday. More cloud and rain. Cold, colder than saturday. Gale force winds easing down in the morning. Wintry showers for many with snow, even at lower levels. This is the deep area of low pressure bringing strong winds overnight. Sunday morning, gales will be easing from eastern areas. A blustery day with wintry showers piling into the north and west. Gales easing away from the east. Still, a blustery day. Feeling cold. Plenty of sunshine around in southern and central and eastern areas. The afternoon, wintry showers reaching the midlands, perhaps into the south east of england as well, certainly very windy in the north of scotland. Snowfall accumulations mounting up. A cold day. Sunday night, much of the same. Further wintry showers, longer spells of snow in the north and west. A cold night. Subzero temperatures. Spots of snow in the north and west of the country. A cold night. Sub zero values in central and northern areas. The risk of ice first thing monday morning. Monday is not looking too bad. Sunshine around. More than sunday. Wintry showers in the north and west. Wind picking up ahead of the next weather front moving in the atlantic. Another chilly day. Temperatures, around 5 8 degrees. Monday night into tuesday. This weather front pushing east across the country. Encountering cold air, so some snow on its leading edge. Central and southern scotland could see quite a lot of snow. Eventually, clearing through as we go through tuesday with skies brightening up behind. Wintry showers moving into scotland and northern ireland. Those temperatures again, chilly, 4 6. A brief ridge of High Pressure calming things down towards wednesday. The next weather front moves in off the atlantic. A repeat performance. It bumps into the cold air, disruptive snow in the north of the country. 10 20 centimetres of snow in the Higher Ground of scotland. Perhaps snow at lower levels as well. With rain, a messy day on wednesday. Perhaps something a little less cold in the south. Still on the chilly side. Heading through the rest of the week, thursday, friday, much of the same, on the chilly side. Welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. My name is nkem ifejika. Our top stories theres mounting International Concern as israel launches a wave of air strikes against what it calls iranian targets in syria. A double decker bus overturns in hong kong, killing at least 19 people. The drivers been arrested. The United States and russia say theyre concerned about an escalation of cross border violence between israel and iranian backed forces in syria. Israeli fighter planes launched bombing raids across the border, following the shooting down of one of its jets. Israel says its been targetting iranian positions on syrian