Thank you for visiting our Young Person’s Support page. Below you will find different ways in which some of our young people have dealt with grief. Please take a look at their stories and imagery below:
Young People’s Support
Here is an interpretation of Grief from Becca Coombes using Photography as a medium.
Title: To The Universe And Back
Having gone through a recent experience of grief losing my mum to cancer, I wanted to create a set of images showing the way grief can look when a loved one first passes away to when you’ve learnt to live with the feelings of grief.
Photographs by Rebecca Coombes
(instagram- @beccas_photography23)
Modelling by Paige Stuart
Here is Sarah Jordan reading an essay she wrote for a school assignment sharing her experience of her brother Dom’s death.
I have been a part of Living On since 2017 and last year Living On sent my dad the application to join the Young People’s Advisory Group which I quickly applied for. After a while, I got an interview where I talked to Alison Penny and Adam Borthwick who were going to be running the group. I really enjoyed talking to them but I still was apprehensive as to whether or not I would get in as I wasn’t sure how many other people had applied. A month later, I got an email that I was invited to join which I was very excited about.
A few weeks before the first meeting, I found out that there were 8 people in the group and 4 of us were from Living On. This was an amazing achievement as so many people came from Living On. I felt proud to be a part of the group and to have come from Living On too, as they have helped and supported me a lot over the last 8 years.
Eventually, the day came when I had the first meeting and all 4 of us travelled up to the offices in London. We were all shocked when we arrived as it was very fancy and we were greeted with an array of snacks and different drinks. As we walked in, we were greeted by Gail, Adam and Alison who were very kind and polite. I think everyone felt a bit nervous to begin with however it helped that I knew some people there.
We did a few icebreakers and got to know each other. The other people there were a few years older than us but they were all very lovely so that was a relief. Firstly, we had an introduction to CBN and how we would be helping over the next 2 years. The purpose of the group was to get an insight into our opinions on how charities across the UK could improve their services, what schools could do and what to do for Grief Awareness Week.
We split off into small groups and talked about each topic before coming back together and having a group discussion. In terms of how charities can improve, the main thing we talked about was how they can collect data before and after the use of a service. For example, a questionnaire is often taken before and after one-to-one sessions but this often happens when the person running these sessions are with you. So, we suggested that it could be online or anonymous so that you feel less obliged to say what the charity might ‘want to hear’. I appreciated how much they valued our feedback and how they agreed with us as we knew they would take this into account.
We then talked about how schools can educate themselves more. Personally, I think grief comes across as almost a ‘taboo’ subject as people shy away from talking about it which makes it difficult for those who are bereaved to talk about it with teachers and friends. Also, we discussed that some teachers and employers too don’t seem to care about how we might feel as they just want us to get on with our work even on difficult days. So, we suggested that assemblies and talks should be given to students and training should be given to teachers. Similarly, we suggested that students should be allowed days off on anniversaries and birthdays and more grace should be given to the person on the weeks following the death. This is quite difficult to do but CBN were talking to an MP at the time who was trying to campaign for awareness for grief.
Lastly, we focused on Grief Awareness Week and the themes and activities that could be run. As it’s the tenth year, the group wanted to do something around that. The theme for this year is sharing stories and about hope as you aren’t defined by grief. We were hoping that through the use of social media, it could be shared around in the hope that more people are aware of it. Throughout the week, different ages will be encouraged to do a specific activity which they can then post on social media.
Since then, we have done another meeting which was online where we also explored grief awareness week. I have really enjoyed the meetings so far and I have liked sharing my views as hopefully it will have a positive impact on many bereaved people. It’s also improved my confidence and I’ve got to meet so many lovely people so I’m very grateful to be a part of it.
Rachel Davis