Discover how to support bereaved students in your learning environment
Dying Matters Week (coming up in the week of 2nd – 6th May), represents an important opportunity to initiate open, honest conversations about dying, grief and bereavement…
With one child in every average class (1 in 29) having been bereaved of a parent or sibling, and 111 children under the age of 18 across the UK being bereaved of a parent every day, it’s vital that we are able to support young people through this painful and often traumatic experience.
But we know it is a challenging and sensitive issue to handle. That’s why we’ve curated a carefully researched list of useful resources and support services that you might like to explore with young people as well as support services you can highlight to those in need:
Winston's Wish
Winston’s Wish – a national charity dedicated to providing bereavement support to young people under the age of 25, has a raft of free schools’ resources to help young people understand grief and negotiate or support others through grief here.
The Mix
The dedicated support service for young people under the age of 25 has 1-2-1 chat services and crisis messenger support that those experiencing bereavement can access. It also has useful articles on the stages of grief, accessing grief counselling, supporting friends through grief and how to deal with important days after someone dies that you can access here.
Free council resources
It’s also well worth checking out the dedicated bereavement web pages created by Brighton & Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex councils as they provide an invaluable springboard into discovering more dedicated support services, counseling services and free educational resources:
Brighton & Hove: https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/woodvale-crematorium-and-cemeteries/bereavement-support-resources
East Sussex: https://czone.eastsussex.gov.uk/health-safety-wellbeing/mental-health-emotional/bereavement-and-loss/
West Sussex: https://arena.westsussex.gov.uk/web/arena/currentoffer/bereavement-support