Cruse  – Nationally

Who – Anyone who has been bereaved
Where – Main bases near to the North West are in Cumbria, Manchester, Preston and Blackburn, East Lancashire, Wirral, Shropshire, North West and Mid North Wales.
What – They offer telephone support, email support, face to face support and support for children and young people. Some Cruse services are able to visit clients in their homes while others may use local consulting rooms. Most of their services are free of charge, but they do ask for a voluntary contribution if you receive face to face support.  They endeavour to support as many bereaved people as they can, however there are geographical boundaries so please contact your local Cruse Area to find out which areas they cover. NB: The Wirral and Wrexham branches do not accept people from Cheshire, and there is no separate Cheshire branch.

Contact: http://www.cruse.org.uk Tel: 0844 477 9400 Email: helpline@cruse.org.uk

Alder Centre – Liverpool.

Who – Provide ‘care and education for anyone affected by the death of a child’.
Where – Services are free and normally offered at the Alder Centre but they can, in certain circumstances, arrange for a Counsellor to meet with clients at an alternative venue.
What – The Bereavement Care Service team provides an immediate response for families, parents and siblings who may be affected by the death of a child at Alder Hey. They offer continued support for as long as you may need with practical and emotional guidance. Counselling – one to one, couple or family, Support Groups for those affected by the loss of a child, Volunteer Befriending, offered by bereaved parents, The Child Death Helpline, staffed by volunteers and run in conjunction with Great Ormond Street Hospital, Therapeutic Family Breaks.

Contact: Tel: 0151 252 5391 Web: www.alderhey.nhs.uk/departments/alder-centre-bereavement-care-services/

Winston’s Wish –Gloucester

Who – Winston’s Wish is the leading childhood bereavement charity in the UK. They offer practical support and guidance to bereaved children, their families and professionals.
Where – For families who have been bereaved through an accident or illness, this service is only available for families living in Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire and West Sussex. Face to face work can be offered to all children and families bereaved of a parent, primary care-giver or sibling through suicide, murder and manslaughter and military deaths, living anywhere in the UK.
What – Winston’s Wish provides professional therapeutic help in individual, group, and residential settings via their national helpline, interactive website and publications. Winston’s Wish can offer a range of practical support to children, families, professionals and anyone concerned about a bereaved child. Winston’s Wish has built up a wealth of experience and expertise through its direct work with thousands of bereaved children and families. They are pleased to share this with others whose work connects them with bereaved children. Winston’s Wish has produced some award winning publications and useful resources. They address issues arising from supporting bereaved children and young people, and offer clear guidance, advice and practical suggestions to parents, carers and professionals.

Contact: Web: www.winstonswish.org.uk/ Email: info@winstonswish.org.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1242 515157 Helpline – 08452 03 04 05

SANDS

Who – Sands supports anyone who has been affected by the death of a baby before, during or shortly after birth.
Where – Nationally, see ‘local support’ for Chester and Cheshire East branches.What – They offer emotional support and information for parents, grandparents, siblings, children, families and friends, health professionals and others. They provide emotional support information right from the early hours after a baby’s death, through to the weeks, months and years ahead.
Bereavement Support Services for parents include our telephone helpline, online forum, Sands Support Groups and a wide range of support literature.

Contact: Web: www.uk-sands.org/ Email:  helpline@uk-sands.org  Tel:  020 7436 5881

Child Bereavement UK –Child Bereavement UK

Who – The charity offers free support and information to bereaved children, young people up to age 25, and their families.
Where – Buckinghamshire, support in Milton Keynes, London, South Lakeland. (also see ‘local support’ for offices in Runcorn)
What –Child Bereavement UK supports families and educates professionals when a baby or child dies or is dying, or when a child is facing bereavement.

Contact: Tel: 0800 02 888 40 Web: www.childbereavementuk.org

Compassionate Friends

Who – Support bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents who have suffered the death of a child of any age, from any cause.
Where – Across the UK. Local 1 to 1 and group support can be accessed via the National Helpline 0845 123 2304. (see ‘local support’, for details of a group in Warrington)
What – They have a helpline, online forum, leaflets, retreats, publications, sibling support, and peer support.

Contact: Web: www.tcf.org.uk/ Helpline: 0845 123 2304 email: helpline@tcf.org.uk

SOBS – Survivors of bereavement by suicide.

Who – exists to meet the needs and break the isolation of people over the age of 18 who have been bereaved by the suicide of a close relative or friend.
Where – Nationally, local branch is Cheshire (Crewe/Nantwich) support group meet 1st Thursday every month
Contact Ed on 01606 738 137.
What – They offer emotional and practical support in a number of ways: Confidential telephone helpline, Support information, Help by e-mail, Group meetings (in a number of locations), One-day conferences, Residential events, Information relating to practical issues and problems.

Contact: Web: www.uk-sobs.org.uk/ National Helpline – 0844 561 6855 Email: sobs.admin@care4free.net

Brake

Who –  The Brake helpline supports anyone bereaved or seriously injured through a road crash, whether the crash happened recently or a long time ago.
Where – National
What –  Support provided includes emotional support, practical and procedural advice, accessing specialist services like legal advice or counselling, advocacy and signposting to other appropriate agencies.Brake support literature is available on various topics, and includes bereavement guides, serious injury guides and specialist childrens literature. All the literature is current, well-written and easy to understand and explains the many practical, procedural and emotional issues families can face after the death or serious injury of a loved one.

Contact: Brake helpline on 0845 6038570 or email helpline@brake.org.uk The helpline operates 10am-4pm Monday to Friday. Web: www.brake.org.uk/

SAMM – Support after murder and manslaughter

Who – supporting families bereaved by murder and manslaughter. We also provide advice and training to many agencies on issues relevant to the traumatically bereaved
Where – Birmingham based
What – They offer confidential non-judgmental support to anyone affected by murder or manslaughter via a telephone helpline, a secure on line forum, non-religious weekend retreats and seminars.

Contact: Web: www.samm.org.uk/ Tel: 0121 471 1200

Care for the Family

Who – everyone, but particular support systems exist for those widowed young and bereaved parents.
Where – South of the UK, but they do support days and weekends across the country.
What – They publish articles and personal stories from others who have faced a similar loss. They also have a telephone befriending service and events especially for bereaved parents and those widowed young.

Contact: Web: www.careforthefamily.org.uk/Family+life/bereavement-support  Email: mail@cff.org.uk  Tel: 029 2081 0800

Grief Encounter

Who – bereaved children in the UK
Where – Based in London
What – They offer an individual approach to each family which begins with an initial call where they will assess the family’s needs at that time. Support consists of specialist resources such as their Grief Relief Kit, telephone, ecounselling, one to one counselling but their aim is to create safe spaces for bereaved young people to connect with each other in order to relieve the loneliness and isolation. This is through their workshops, family days, camp or DropIns. They have a new ecounselling service wherby they can offer bereavement support and counselling to those who cannot access them directly.

Contact: Web: www.griefencounter.org.uk/ Tel: 020 8371 8455 Email: contact@griefencounter.org.uk

The WAY foundation – Widowed and Young

Who – men and women widowed under 50
Where – Nationally, with local groups around the UK
What – WAY widowed and young is a self-help group that offers emotional and practical support to young widowed men and women as they adjust to life after the death of their partner.

Contact: Tel: 0300 012 4929  Email: enquiries@widowedandyoung.org.uk Web: www.wayfoundation.org.uk/

Child Death Helpline

Who – for anyone affected by the death of a child of any age, from pre-birth to adult, under any circumstances, however recently or long ago.
Where – no face to face support
What –A helpline, answered by a bereaved parent. Open every day throughout the year. Every evening 19.00 – 22.00. Monday to Friday 10.00 – 13.00. Tuesday and Wednesday 13.00 – 16.00.

Contact: Web: www.childdeathhelpline.org.uk/

Sudden Death Support Association

Who – set up and run by volunteering individuals who have experienced a sudden death themselves, this association provides a listening ear for relatives and friends struggling to cope in the aftermath of tragic loss. They can be contacted on 01189 888099 (24 hour answerphone).

For details of bereavement support in Cheshire and surrounding areas such as North Wales, see our ‘Local support’ section.