Developing Our Services
We are continually developing our services through our direct experiences with children, young people and families and listening closely to their feedback. We also value the lived experience of our service users, volunteers and Trustee Board.
We believe it is important to develop new services where there is an identified need within our community for support. Below you will find two new services we are hoping to launch soon to widen our bereavement services so that no child or young person should suffer in silence.
Sandy Cubs
The Sandy Cubs group will support parents through telling a very young child that their loved one has died, including how much to share and the right words to use. It will support them to think about the child’s experience, what helps a child grieve, and if older children are involved, the impact on those too.
Through play, Sandy Cubs will develop positive ongoing relationships to aid remembrance and in doing so, increase the child’s self-esteem and emotional wellbeing when remembering a loved one. It will provide a deeper sense of security for the child.
Strengthening a child’s ‘root’ of belonging stabilises emotional development and this is crucial for a young child, for emotional resilience and wellbeing in later life.
Anticipatory Grief
For the children and young people involved and their remaining families, it can be hard to prepare for the eventuality of death. The impending loss can bring up great challenges, particularly for children as they adjust to finding new ways of living and coping without their loved one. Even before death, children and young people can experience a strong sense of loss. This affects a third of children currently referred to us.
Preparing children who are living with a loved one with a life limiting condition helps to promote good memories and emotional resilience, encouraging dialogue and actions between the dying and the child about what happens next.
It is important for the child to be informed, involved and have a voice in important decision-making processes affecting them.
