We’re helping support young people and staff who are dealing with bereavement.
A new animated video for bereaved children, which was launched at a recent event, has been created as part of an Ideas Fund project with local charity Fitmums & Friends.
It draws directly on children’s lived experiences to help others better understand and support other young people who are grieving, and aims to improve their mental wellbeing.
Alex Wray, End of Life Matron, was heavily involved in her role as a researcher for The Forest Project, which gives young people the opportunity to participate in forest activities such as den building, campfire cooking, tool making, tree climbing and forest games.
She said: “I started at the Trust in 2001, always passionate about end of life care. I completed my PhD at Hull York Medical School. It aimed to explore support experiences for children and surviving parents following the death of a co-parent. At this time, I met Sam from Fitmums & Friends.
“In 2023, Sam asked if I would like to be involved in putting in a bid for a second round of funding for The Forest Project. I was delighted to be invited by Sam to join the project as a researcher, and together we applied for additional funding to build on the project’s impact.
“As part of the project, we facilitated sessions with bereaved children to co-create resources. We then commissioned the artist Bruno Martini to do the animation, which we hope will be shared widely to raise awareness and spark conversations around childhood bereavement.”
There’s been some fantastic feedback from children who’ve been supported by the project. Some of the comments are below:
“Often I struggle talking but making friends and talking in a group is better. Everyone I’ve met has actually changed a lot about me. I have been more happy having friends and relating to what they have been through.”
“It helps me remember and it’s calm. My mum would have liked it here because of the colours and the mood of it. It’s so relaxing.”
We’re also supporting our staff with bereavement training, as part of an upcoming event which will see them shown the best ways to help speak to bereaved families and colleagues. Alex helps facilitate Dawn Bereavement Support, which offers monthly peer support for any bereaved adults, including staff. Sessions take place at Castle Hill Hospital. For more information, contact Sandra on 01482 61260.
Fitmums & Friends offer a range of bereavement support for adults and children in our area.
Heather Gibson, Bereavement Coordinator at Fitmums & Friends, said: “We started off as a running group but we now do many other things such as grief yoga, grief walks and much more. We’d be happy to help anyone who needs our assistance.”
For more information, please contact Heather at [email protected] or Alex at [email protected].
