National Grief Awareness Week - breaking the taboos
We’re pleased to be one of the 90 support organisations throwing our weight behind the initiative that is National Grief Awareness Week
The annual event, driven by The Good Grief Trust, takes place between Wednesday 2 and Tuesday 8 December. It aims to reach out to those living with grief as part of their life, to normalise grief and get the public talking about this uncomfortable subject to help break the taboos surrounding it.
This year it is encouraging bereaved people to share their story to help them feel acknowledged and understood and to find the support they need now. With the coronavirus pandemic it has been particularly hard for the bereaved to reach out to family and friends for a much-needed hug and human connection has been more difficult than usual
Christmas concert
Fittingly, the week culminates on the same night as our online Christmas concert, which gives everybody the opportunity to remember loved ones lost to meningitis.
Cheryl Brown, our Support Services Manager, said: “The bereaved understandably have felt alone and isolated during the Covid-19 crisis. Sharing these stories will help others to understand the impact of grief and loss and help those grieving to know that the person who has died will be remembered. Their story could become somebody else’s hope.
“With some 600,000 deaths in the UK every year, at some time all of us will be affected by grief and none of us know how we will react to the death of someone close until it happens.
Access to support
“The Good Grief Trust says that although grief can be complicated, access to support should never be. That’s where our specialist Helpline and Support teams can step in and give you the support you need, when you need it – do get in touch if you would like to talk.”
Each day of the Awareness Week is focusing on a different aspect, starting with Share your Story on Day 1. This is followed by Day 2, Covid; Day 3, Support for Children and Young People; Day 4, Men’s Grief Day; Day 5, Diversity and Inclusion; Day 6, Bereaved Parents Day; and Day 7, A Day of Hope.
As well as our online concert on this day the Good Grief Trust is hosting an Evensong service at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. This will also be lit up in yellow, along with many other UK buildings, to mark the occasion.
There will also be an unofficial minute’s silence at 5pm on Tuesday 8 December.
Read more at www.nationalgriefawarenessweek.org.
Share your meningitis story here.
If you have lost a loved one to meningitis, we are here for you. Contact our Helpline on 0808 80 10 388 or by emailing helpline@meningitisnow.org. We also have a Bereavement Support page on Facebook, where you can talk to others who know exactly what you're going through.
