With the news that the Brambles Trust is in danger of folding, Lisa Heritage looks at its origins.

HUNDREDS of bereaved families have benefited from the expertise and care of the Brambles Trust since the organisation was launched in 1998.

The registered charity was set up in the wake of the Hagley RC High School minibus crash in 1993, which claimed the lives of 12 children and a teacher.

The accident, which happened when the minibus ploughed into the back of a lorry on the M40, came as a devastating blow to the community, particularly to the survivors, friends and families of the victims, who struggled to cope with their grief.

Steve Fitzgerald and his wife, Liz, of Rock, were among families permanently affected by the accident which claimed the life of their 13-year-old daughter, Claire.

The couple, together with their younger daughter, Sarah, struggled to come to terms with their loss but felt determined that something positive should come out of the tragedy.

The Fitzgeralds first started sessions at Bishop's Wood Environmental Education Centre, near Stourport, in October, 1994 for family and friends of the victims.

The group sessions ended in 1997 but, after speaking to Winston's Wish, a child bereavement centre in Gloucester, the couple were keen to establish a similar support centre in Wyre Forest on a long-term basis.

Their aim was to extend their services to children and adults who had experienced the sudden loss of a loved one and help them feel less isolated when going through the grieving process.

The Brambles Trust was launched in June, 1998 and consisted of residential weekends at the Frank Chapman Centre near Bewdley, with support groups held at the same time for adults at Bishops Wood Environmental Centre.

Sessions are devised to enable children to talk and to realise they are not alone. Visits from music therapists, drama therapists and consultants also help to boost the children's self-esteem.

Throughout the years, the trust has had many success stories.

According to Mr Fitzgerald, one child, who had lost her father, would thrash about in her sleep. Through counselling sessions and residential weekends, however, the child was able to learn to cope with her loss and settled into a normal sleeping pattern.

Mr Fitzgerald said: "No-one is trained to prepare for bereavement and that is why it is necessary to give people the tools to deal with an unexpected situation.

"If you take the analogy that a child is a sapling and the adult is the stake holding the child up then we are here to strengthen both so they can learn to hold themselves up."

Bramble's Trust is a registered charity and a company registered in England, limited by guarantee.

Anyone wishing to help the trust ensure its survival, should call Mr Fitzgerald on 07904 101583.