Child Bereavement UK help children and young people (up to age 25), parents, and families, to rebuild their lives when a child grieves or when a child dies. Child Bereavement UK also provide training to professionals, equipping them to provide the best possible care to bereaved families.

In 2018 I had to tell my two-year-old son Seren that his father was dead and never coming back. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Because he was so tiny, he asked me every morning where his daddy was. I'd stick to my script and give him the facts over and over again. Eventually, he started using past tense words to describe his father. That was tough to hear, but also a relief that he wasn't still expecting Eddy to come home. The journey for bereaved children and their grief doesn't end there. While they're often described as tough and resilient, young people process death and mortality in complex ways, and at different stages during their childhood. Having a practitioner at Child Bereavement UK allows me to identify any concerns I have about my son, and how to approach them. Seren can also take part in sessions with other children in similar situations in the future. He'll get to have fun with a group of kids his age, and not feel like he's any different. Children who have been through loss and trauma frequently go on to do extraordinary things with their lives. Adversity in youth can lead to incredible strength (there are some great stats showing how many world leaders lost a parent in childhood), but they often need exceptional support in order to get there. 

For my sister Fionnuala, she had to seek help and advice in supporting her two boys through the loss of their uncle. CBUK provides much-needed resources and advice for caregivers and teachers responding to the varying needs of children navigating a sudden and traumatic death in the family.