IT IS a sad fact that in this country a child is bereaved of a parent every 30 minutes. Each year, there are an estimated 400 children and young people living in Worcestershire who are affected by the death of a parent, sibling or other significant person in their lives.

These bereaved children and young people often need help with support, guidance and to help manage their grief.
Individuals within a bereaved family frequently endeavour to “protect” one another during their grief – a bereaved child will try not to show that he is upset for fear of upsetting their parent further.

The parent, however, will hope to hide their grief for fear of upsetting their child further because they are aware that the child is already distressed.

This situation can lead to a bottling up of grief, which in itself can lead to problems later in life if it is not dealt with at the appropriate time.

A head teacher at a primary school in Worcestershire said: “There is a complexity about the bereavement process that leaves many of us in the mainstream teaching profession feeling woefully ill-equipped to meet the needs of those children who find themselves in this devastating position.”

There is a company called Footsteps who fulfil this role and offer a free programme of support for bereaved children, young people and their families in Worcestershire.

Footsteps enables them to talk about the person who has died, ask questions, express their feelings and have their fears and worries accepted. Footsteps also provides training for people who come into contact with children during the course of their working lives, workshops for families in addition to individual support for children and young people.

If you would like Call Footsteps on 0845 467 6065, leave a message and you will get a returned call within 24 hours.

PAUL CRAWFORD Patient Representative, Acute NHS Trust