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Testomonials

Quotes from bereaved families who have received support:

 “Thank you again for being a light at what I thought was a dark and lonely tunnel.”

 “Thank you so much for taking the time to help desperate people like me who just don’t know where to turn.”

 “Thank you all you have done for me today is more than anyone has helped me with in the last few months.”

“My youngest son died suddenly in hospital from pneumonia and Sepsis. X was not expected to die, and the shock was and continues to be traumatic. Within this shock, and trying to arrange the funeral and coping with my own and my families intense grief, I started to try to seek out some support for us with our bereavement. I went up lots of “cul de sacs” as I think of them now. This means that we did not seem to fit the criteria of the groups I contacted for support. One day, as I was shopping, I noticed a charity collection for Elsie ever after and read the description of their work. It seemed to offer some hope of what I was seeking. I rang Helen on my return home. I sobbed as I tried to speak to her of our loss. Helen was so nurturing and supportive helping me gently to speak to her about X and our needs as a family to find support. Helen spoke to me of her own loss of her daughter, Elsie and her efforts to develop bereavement support in this area for families. She sent me lots of contact details of other groups, most of whom she contacted on my behalf first, to see if it was appropriate. This was exactly what I needed, someone with compassion and understanding to get alongside me in my quest. I shall be ever grateful to her for this.”

“Helen also sent out some books and materials which she thought would be of help to our friends’ children, who had known and loved X all of their lives. This was immensely helpful in them being able to take about X and process what had happened. For some of the children, it was their first experience of the death of someone close to them.”

“Losing someone close is so very hard. I’ve lost my sister at 16 and my dad too early. Any support is so very needed and worthwhile. You’ve supported my son and I am so very grateful as no one else would.”

“Words are so difficult at times and I am unable to put together a sentence or two that says what I want to so hopefully these words convey everything. Beautiful, adorable, precious, admiration, strength, love, gratefulness. My son started art therapy yesterday and I know it is going to help him and without your help and support he would not have this. Thank you. Much love x”

“Thank you for being there at the hardest time. I wish you peace and good health in the coming year.”

“The pack has arrived and I must say it was fantastically above our expectations. I am sure x will have a better understanding of what has happened to his dad. Again your wonderful foundation has brought comfort to our grandson.”

“Thank you for all you do. In my own search for support you were the only source of information and help and I’m very grateful for that. I hope that some day in the not too distant future, that I may be able to join with you to help others in our situation. Bless you and take care.”

“Just a quick message to say thanks so much to you for sorting the pack for my daughter. It’s been such a big help already & she’s been filling in the kids book. She’s been so brave over the last few weeks but it’s helped her to understand what’s been going on. Thank you” xx  “

“Thanks again, don’t know what I would’ve done without you or your service. “

“Hi I have just realised that I never emailed you to say thank you for the resource packs you sent me.  We have been working through the Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine book and I think it is great.”

“Thank you so much, you’ve gone above and beyond and I really appreciate it. What a brilliant thing you do.”

Quotes from professionals

Hi, I’m an educational psychologist working within Cheshire West. Everything that you do for bereaved families locally is brilliant and I regularly recommend your support.

The bereavement packs provided by Elsie Ever After have proved to be an invaluable resource at school when we are faced with the immediate aftermath of a child who has faced loss. Sadly, we too often are faced with children who have lost a grandparent or other family member, and more recently I have worked with a child who has lost their identical twin shortly after birth, but has grown up and been impacted upon by the sense of loss faced by her parents. The packs include well thought out resources that facilitate talking about a painful subject in a child (Teacher in a primary school).

Thank you so much for the pack you sent. I met with the little boy’s mum after school today and she was over the moon with the resources in there. Again, many, many thanks. Your work has really helped one of our families in huge crisis.

We got one of them (bereavement pack) from you recently, thank you, it’s so amazing and contacting you was so easy. You make a huge difference to people struggling -more than you’ll ever know.

Just wanted to let you know that we are so grateful for your packs. Sadly, one of our beautiful children at school died yesterday. I have been able to hand over your packs to the family – they are invaluable. It has also provided the staff at school with something practical they can do to help.

I’m a mental health practitioner with CAMHS and have used your packs to show parents and have recommended you packs. The books are brilliant and I have used them with children of all ages. Thank you for doing such an amazing job.

Thank you so much for the resources you have kindly forwarded to our school this term; they have all proved to be invaluable to both the children and their teachers.

I’m just writing to say thank you for the support that has been provided for X. I have just visited Y (X’s mum) and it was a really positive visit. Y said “X has been a different girl, I cannot believe the transformation, nowhere near as many tantrums and outbursts, she was kicking and slamming doors, we have none of that anymore. The counselling has been brilliant for her.  I don’t know what she would be like now if this had not been put in place for her.  Again, I would just like to say thankyou.

I just wanted to let you know how well X is getting on since commencing art therapy. She has never really engaged with any structured support and could not see the benefits or the purpose of therapy. She was unable to express her emotions and this resulted in episodes of rage in school and numerous assaults on other pupils.  I can honestly say that in 15 years of working with challenging and complex young people, I have never seen such a positive change in a short space of time. X is calmer, easier to approach and challenge and less emotionally unstable in school. As she can see the art therapy working, this has opened up the opportunity for other professionals to start addressing the other issues. The art therapy has allowed X to see that support can be a positive experience and she can be vulnerable without falling apart. I think she had put so much energy into creating this cold, aggressive persona, that she had forgotten who she really was and although the therapy has started a long journey of healing, it has also given X permission to find out who she really is underneath the mask. In school, the X I see daily now is the lovely, friendly, positive, young lady I used to see glimpses of in the past and the hard faced, angry X has been almost completely replaced. (Safeguarding and pastoral lead in a high school)         

The bereavement packs have been a very useful tool in school and are fundamental to opening a dialogue or a thought process for all children experiencing bereavement. Parents have commented that the packs have helped them too due to the fact that they offer practical activities and are also interactive, prompting conversations and opportunities to talk and create memories. Many thanks for such a versatile and much needed resource for children and families. (Safeguarding and pastoral lead in primary school)

Thank you so much for all the stuff you sent over. It certainly has helped and any help at such a sad time is so lovely and gratefully received. Once again thank you so much, your help as made such a difference. (SEN School)

Firstly I just want to say a huge thank you for the bereavement packs I have received in the post this morning. I am amazed at the quality and quantity of the resources in the packs you provide.

Thank you – Elsie Ever After has supported so many of the bereaved children in my class over the past few years. Your beautiful books have helped me support others when I wasn’t sure what words to say.

Can I please request some Primary packs please as we have used what we had in school, these have been an invaluable source supporting our pupils with bereavements over the pandemic period

I’ve just received and read the books on supporting children through suicide and they are amazing (made me a little teary – maybe its smoky in here).  I just wanted to say a massive thank you for all the support, resources and counselling your charity provides for children in school.  It is such a selfless thing for you to do after experiencing such a devastating loss, to provide kindness and comfort to others to ease their grief just a little and to let them know that someone out there understands and cares enough to make a difference…

Thank you on behalf of all the children who benefit from your generosity!

Sometime ago, when I was absent, school took delivery of two wonderful ‘Elsie Ever After’ packs and placed them in one of my work trays. I just want to say a big thank you as I am often called upon to support bereaved families (Learning mentor).

 I have over the years been fortunate enough to access training and support from local hospices, however I am aware of the wonderful support that can be gained through organisations such as yours. I am handing over one of your packs to a family today and I’m sure that they will appreciate your offer of support as much as I do.

I’m a G.P. and whilst I was looking in the cupboard I came across an Elsie Ever After pack and I just wanted to say I found it incredibly useful – full of really good stuff for what I needed.

Just a few words to say thank you so much for the wonderful packs that were dropped off at School today. They are very much appreciated and staff will now be much better equipped to deal with child bereavement should we have to. Elsie’s legacy is continuing to grow into something quite amazing and the work you have undertaken to plug the gap in bereavement counselling is absolutely staggering. You are all angels. “(Quote from a school who have received our packs.)

The staff at school are finding the packs very helpful thank you so much. They have been using them with children throughout the school and have asked me if it is possible to have any more. They are using them with a wide range of children who have very different needs and they have been so helpful in giving them the confidence to deal with the challenging issues and emotions the children experience and don’t always understand. Thank you so much from us all at …….. School. You and Elsie have started something amazing.

Thank-you so much for the two lovely packs that were delivered to our school yesterday. I am sure they will be of great benefit in the event of a bereavement within our school community. Keep up your good work.

Thank you so much for the bereavement support material which we received in school yesterday. It will be a great help for us to better and more appropriately support children who have experience loss.

I have requested a bereavement pack from you that has been brilliant. We are finding your Website and general information very useful. I have used the pack already for a child that is benefiting from the book.

I was told about the amazing free resources provided by Elsie Ever After during my initial ELSA training and placed an order almost immediately and it arrived in the next day’s post. The resource included their Muddles and Puddles work book, which I have used with children to help them work through their grief. Whenever I have needed to replenish my stock I have contacted Elsie Ever After and new books have been sent immediately again at no cost to our school or myself. This generosity means that each child is able to work through the workbook and keep it forever. It becomes a very personal book which allows the children to not only express their emotions but recognise the importance of memories and express them on paper so that the book becomes a precious keepsake. The booklets and other resources also complement the pack and are a brilliant tool and have helped the children I have worked with to understand death and what that actually means. Often, with young children death is something that they have never experienced and isn’t a subject that they have generally been exposed to.

On several occasions Elsie Ever After helped me support families who have suffered bereavement, by providing age-appropriate bereavement packs and books that can be tailored to support Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. The packs and books include information and activities to help families discuss and work through their bereavement. The families have really appreciated this and expressed how helpful and invaluable these resources were to them.

I cannot express how wonderful this charity have been in supporting the children in our school.  In a time when all charities, but in particular mental health services, are being overwhelmed with requests of support, Elsie Ever After have stepped in and been a godsend to us. Elsie Ever After stepped in within days of my request for specialist help with literature for staff, age-appropriate stories and resources for the child and most importantly funding for one to one bereavement counselling in school.  After the first three sessions the impact has been outstanding.  I find it so inspiring that Elsie Ever After was born out of such a heartbreaking family tragedy and through the bravery and selfless actions of one bereaved family, lots of families are benefitting from support through their darkest times. 

Elsie Ever After have over a number of years, supported the children and parents of our school with emotional support ensuring that our children and parents have access to bereavement support at the time they need it most.

The impact of the support offered by Elsie Ever After has been phenomenal. The children I have worked with and continue to work with have been able to grieve and remember their loved ones in a very age-appropriate way by using the resources and advice that Elsie Ever After have kindly provided to our school.

I have approached Helen Lyons on a number of occasions and she has given me her time and shared her expertise in supporting me within my role to support the children in school who have experienced loss. An area that I was unfamiliar with and not at all confident in. Not knowing who to contact to support the children and families I work with, Helen reassured me that there is support out there for children and families. Helen ensured that she took a proactive approach in supporting me within school to ensure that the children and families I work with are offered the right support. Reaffirming the future and talking in hopeful terms.

Helen does an amazing job. The results of her service are profound and not always fully seen or acknowledged, as people often move on without looking back to say thank you, which she deserves in abundance.

Elsie Ever After is a charity that has an excellent reputation within our team and is frequently used for our families. Elsie Ever After is our go to resource for support for bereaved families.  The feedback received from parents and young people that have accessed support from Elsie Ever After is wonderful. It is clear that the volunteers provide a celebration and a magical memory for the bereaved that is important to the grieving and healing process.  Elsie Ever after have the most beautiful resources that are used by young people to create a memory book. Elsie Ever After have provided resources to our team which have been invaluable to us during the pandemic as we have been able to utilise these resources with families in a timely way. The intervention provided by Elsie ever After can be a catalyst for significant positive change in many areas of their lives. A young person that may have been displaying challenging or withdrawn behaviours can become “unstuck “ and parents can see significant  improvements in  the young person’s functioning and the choices that they make . Elsie Ever After is a charity that serves the local community to the highest standard and is an invaluable resource within our community .

From St Luke’s Hospice training team:

“Thank you for your session yesterday, it was evaluated extremely well………Thanks again for your moving experience, what a wonderful, courageous and inspiring family you all seem.”

Quotes from Living Well, Dying well talk:

“Absolutely brilliant”

“Thank you for being so honest”

“Everything you said resonated with me”

“I now feel confident in speaking openly about something that will affect us all”

“Inspirational”

“Not what I expected at all”

“It opened up meaningful conversation between myself and my loved ones, that never would have happened before the talk”.

Website resource:

Just taken a look at the website and it looks fab – lots of information at a glance.

Just a little note to say the Elsie Ever After website looks fantastic. Really easy to find everything and really clear what it is for and why you set it up. 

Just had time to sit down and look at this. It’s so heart wrenching, inspirational and supportive. Your love shines through for beautiful Elsie. Well done – amazing website xxx

Just spent ages checking out the website…it’s amazing.

I had a good look at the website last night, Helen. It looks wonderful! You are such an inspiration. What a powerful movement.