How can Winston’s Wish help professionals supporting grieving children and young people?

Caring for a bereaved child can be complex. What should you say? How should you act? Is there something specific you should be doing or not doing? How do you know if a child is coping?

Whilst we can’t take away a young person’s loss, we can help you to help them to thrive again.

As well as providing direct bereavement information and support to young people, Winston’s Wish helps health and social care workers and other professionals, in fact… any adult that is caring for a bereaved young person, to provide the best support possible. If you work in a school we have dedicated resources just for you – visit our support for schools page.

Whether it’s helping you having your first conversations with children about death, activities to help young people express their feelings or simply understanding how children, teenagers and young adults grieve differently depending on their age, their circumstances and their type of bereavement.

We’re here to help you support the children and young people in your care, whether it be in anticipation of a death (pre-bereavement), in the immediate days following a bereavement or even months or years down the line.

Please note that any young person up to the age of 25 who has experienced the death of someone important to them can reach out directly to Winston’s Wish through our on-demand services.

They can email, chat with us online, text or call our helpline. Those aged 13 or over can also refer themselves for further bereavement support services.

We encourage you to encourage bereaved children and young people to reach out to us directly themselves, so they can own and start their grief support journey on their own terms.

All of our services are online to ensure as many people as possible have access to bereavement advice and support, no matter where they live.