Bereavement Support Programme Starts
A free programme designed to give support and education to anyone following a bereavement will start again on Wednesday October 26.
The six-week Grief Journey Derby programme is funded by Derby and Ashbourne independent funeral directors G Wathall & Son. The weekly sessions are held between 6pm and 8pm at Derby Rugby Club in Haslam’s Lane and must be pre-booked by contacting G Wathall & Son.
Helen Wathall is Managing Director of G Wathall & Son who were finalists in this year’s Derby Telegraph Business Awards in the Contribution to the Community category. She explained: “Grief Journey Derby is a structured programme that is run by trained volunteers. “It is not formal counselling but the opportunity to be part of a group that explores the grief process and emotional pathway to help bereaved people cope with adjustments to life as it is now and the ‘new normal’. “People join us at various times after bereavement – whenever they feel that they need support. “We also offer a free social programme Derby Dandelions which many of the people who complete Grief Journey Derby also attend. “Groups are open to everyone who has suffered a personal bereavement and are held every month in the afternoon and now the evening to offer support in a social environment.”
Among the people who have previously attended the programme is 91-year-old great grandmother Bernice Griffin from Derby. She said: “My husband passed away this time last year just a few months before our 70th wedding anniversary. “He had been poorly and had a fall at home. He died a couple of days later in hospital and it was a dreadful shock. “My initial reason for going on the Grief Journey programme was that it was something to keep me occupied. “The Grief Journey helped me to come to terms with my loss. It helps you to localise your feelings and focus on moving on. It has also given me the confidence to get out and mix with people again as you feel isolated when you have been caring for someone at home.”
To book a place on Grief Journey Derby and for more information about this and Derby Dandelions, please contact G Wathall & Son, Tel: 01332 345268 or email the firm’s bereavement services coordinator Angela Thompson angela@wathall.co.uk and visit www.wathall.co.uk