Support for parents

It can be difficult to support a child who is grieving the death of a loved one at the same time as managing your own grief.

Although death is a part of life it doesn’t make it any less painful or confusing. There’s no right or wrong way to grieve but what’s important is that families navigate through grief in a healthy way whilst adjusting to a new life without their loved one.

Grief can be especially hard for children and no child grieves the same. How they think about it depends on their age and developmental stage – along with many other factors.

Children often feel sad, angry, or confused and this is normal, they may have lots of questions about how their loved one has died. If you’re an adult who is supporting a bereaved child and would like guidance, please do make a referral.

Our parent group support is designed for parents of children who are accessing our support programmes, offering a safe and trusting environment to help reduce the isolation often experienced due to bereavement

Groups take place throughout the year and offer mindfulness activities that help to reduce stress, increase emotional resilience, and empower self-care surrounded by others who share similar experiences.

The group is not a counselling group but an opportunity to meet others and to realise parents are not alone in their experiences. This group helps build confidence and to make new friendships.

Groups include, walk & talk, wreath making, summer floral displays, planting and more. These group sessions help in many ways including:

• Normalising grief and the difficulties that it brings
• Listening and sharing of other experiences
• Creating social networks and reducing feelings of isolation
• Discovering personal strengths and new skills
• Time out to do something for themselves
• A place to feel validated and understood