Child Bereavement UK/Scotland

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Child Bereavement UK is partnering with Sibling Support to offer helpline support to young people whose brother or sister has died, and to their families and carers. We’re pleased to be part of Sibling Support’s important mission to ensure bereaved siblings don’t become the forgotten grievers.

For more information 👉 siblingsupport.co.uk/get-support

We asked young people we support to share what others can do to help them.

For more guidance from young people: childbereavementuk.org/support-tips

When frightening events are widely publicised in the media, children can worry about themselves and others.

For support, information or guidance call our confidential Helpline on 0800 02 888 40.

"I believe that getting this right for Black young people can have a big impact not just on the Black community but for wider society, enabling more young people from all communities to access the support they need" Reverend Cassius Francis, minister with the Wesleyan Holiness Church and Chaplain, Birmingham Women and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust explains why it's important to ensure Black young people recognise themselves in services they use.

"The more that I've learned about grief and bereavement, the more I recognise that everybody has to grieve in their own way and in their own time. For some people in the Black community, this could be something traditional like Nine Nights and other ways of gathering as a community, but others will struggle with this and want their own space and time.

Being able to maintain something that links back to your heritage can be helpful but within that it’s important to recognise the need to be gentle with people, to hold them carefully as they grieve as everybody's grief story is individual and unique to them.

Young people of African and African Caribbean heritage are more likely to experience multiple bereavements which adds to complexities around how they process and come to terms with grief. Black young people have often been described as ‘hard to reach’ or ‘hard to engage’ yet more often these young people are born here - they’re not new to the country, facing a language barrier, or struggling to understand how systems work. Younger generations are also more used to discussing issues around their mental and emotional health, particularly in the classroom.

Despite this, reluctance to seek support still exists and sometimes for good reason; we know that Black men are disproportionately represented in mental health statistics and institutions and Black women experience worse outcomes in maternity services. We cannot discount the systemic racism that is still a reality in a number of our services and institutions.

It really provides some useful dynamics for us to think about: if we are able to get it right for this group of young people, there are lessons that we can learn for wider communities that really need to access bereavement support.

I believe the impetus is in meeting Black young people where they are and ensuring they recognise themselves in services they use. A big one is images that are used and how reflective they are of the young people themselves in bereavement support resources. I really think that's critical. Sometimes I will discover really helpful resources around bereavement, but the images of white young people will immediately be a barrier to me being able to present this to a young person to be able to access and own as their own story. If a young Black person doesn’t feel represented - whether that’s via imagery or the people delivering the service - it’s immediately a barrier to being able to access what might otherwise be good quality information and support.

This poses a challenge for organisations around cultural sensitivity and how young people can access bereavement support services that reflect them and their lived experience. The key is for organisations that want to support young Black people to connect with those community-led organisations that they are already accessing and which they trust.

In the book ‘Black Grief and Healing - Why We Need To Talk About Health Inequality, Health and Trauma’, I write ‘Black communities are not hard to reach! However, engagement needs to be authentic and transparent if injustices and equalities are going to be addressed.’

I believe that getting this right for Black young people can have a big impact not just on the Black community but for wider society, enabling more young people from all communities to access the support they need."

Are you celebrating your birthday soon? Supporting Child Bereavement UK with a birthday fundraiser helps us to provide much-needed support to families, children and young people. It’s quick and easy to set up, and we couldn’t be more grateful for your support. Simply click the + in your profile and tap 'fundraiser' to start! 🎈

Leaving a gift to Child Bereavement UK in your Will, whatever the amount, can make a real difference to our work with bereaved families.

During , we’re offering our supporters the opportunity to write a simple Will or to amend your existing Will free of charge through our partnership with Free Wills Network.

Hannah Blackman who made a legacy pledge said, “The process of using the Free Wills service was simple and straightforward. I was able to select a firm of solicitors close to me so it was easy to get the Will completed in a timely manner.”

To find out more about how you can support our work through a legacy gift: childbereavementuk.org/legacy

“Grief is like trying to get over a big fence.” Korley, aged 8, was supported by Child Bereavement UK after his mum died.

For more on how we can support bereaved children and young people, call 0800 02 888 40.

We deliver multi-disciplinary training on a range of subjects to professionals supporting bereaved children, young people, parents and families.

Our training is flexible and can be arranged to meet your specific needs. We will work closely with you to ensure training covers the aims and outcomes you require and deliver the training either online or face to face at a time and place to suit you.

To find out more and to contact our friendly training team, visit:
childbereavementuk.org/bespoke-training

When someone important to you dies you may be overwhelmed by feelings of grief and loss. Over time, as you do new things and have new experiences, your loss will remain as significant but other parts of your life will start to grow around it.

When you think of the person who has died, you may still feel sad and sometimes be overwhelmed by grief again, but over the years, this will generally happen less frequently.

For more on how we grieve, visit: childbereavementuk.org/how-we-grieve

If a friend is bereaved, ask how you can help them. Practical help may be welcomed, but sometimes they may just need someone to listen or to do something - or nothing - with.

For more ideas from young people 👉childbereavementuk.org/support-tips

🗓️October training dates for professionals

Are you, or do you know a professional who wants to learn more about supporting bereaved children, young people, families and adults? We have places available on some of our upcoming training, all of which are delivered by experienced facilitators.

👉 Book or to find out more: childbereavementuk.org/training
🔄 Please share our upcoming training with your networks.