Phyllis Tuckwell’s Online Support for Bereaved Children

Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care has launching online versions of the support groups which it offers to the bereaved children of its patients.

Many of Phyllis Tuckwell’s patients are parents or grandparents, and supporting their children and grandchildren through bereavement is vitally important. Receiving the right support helps them to build resilience, cope with difficulties in the future, and develop and maintain relationships throughout the rest of their lives. Phyllis Tuckwell runs two bereavement support groups, Little Rays, for children of primary school age, and Storm, which is aimed at children of secondary school and sixth form age. Because of the pandemic, these groups have been unable to meet up over the past few months but, following a successful pilot, Phyllis Tuckwell is now running Little Rays groups online, and has been really pleased with the transition. It is also organising a pilot session for Storm and is hoping to have an online group up and running soon.

“Moving our Little Rays group sessions to Zoom has gone really well” says Elaine Ashby, Children & Family Support Worker at Phyllis Tuckwell. “The children always amaze us with their adaptability, and they have adjusted to our virtual meetings very quickly.”

Phyllis Tuckwell’s bereavement groups teach children and young people skills which they can draw on both now and throughout their lives, to help them negotiate their way through grief. Working with children and young people before bereavement embeds these skills early on, so preparatory support can and does equip them even more fully, enabling them to cope with loss much better.

Each session will be offered to a maximum of eight participants, with small groups enabling the staff running the session to ensure that everyone is included and being supported throughout the whole session.

To find out more about Phyllis Tuckwell and its bereavement support for children and families, visit www.pth.org.uk/children