Bereaved Parents’ Club

Episode 17: No-Ho-Ho: Surviving Festivities

October 31 2024

Dreading December? Can’t face Christmas? No idea how you are going to manage your grief in the face of all the baubles and cheer? We’re here to try to help you through. Listen to Abi May and Debbie discuss the difficulties of seasonal festivities and suggest a few things that just might help.

Episode 16: My Brother

October 25 2024

Shushma Jain shares her story of losing her brother Arvind. We’ll find out why siblings are ‘forgotten mourners’ and what Shushma is doing to help other adult siblings to cope with their grief.

Episode 15: Caitlin’s Campaign

October 25 2024

Sharron Huddleston has been campaigning for the introduction of a Graduated Driving License Scheme since her daughter Caitlin was killed in a car crash in 2017. Caitlin was the passenger of a driver who had only held a license for 4 months and whose inexperience contributed to the fatal outcome. Here Sharron talks about her lovely daughter, her grief, and her determination to make our roads safer.

Episode 14: Legacy of Leo

October 14 2024

Jess is a 37 year old mum of two, Eli who is here, and Leo who isn’t. With her wife, Natalie and after several years of fertility treatment, Jess became pregnant with Leo in 2015. Sadly, at 37 + 1 day pregnant, Leo died. Shortly after, and as a way to process everything that had happened, Jess started writing about her experiences via The Legacy of Leo blog. In this time, she has advocated for greater awareness of LGBT+ baby loss experiences, and has created a peer-to-peer community space on Twitter, and now Instagram, called Baby Loss Hour.

Episode 13: The Exclusive Club That Dads Don't Wanna Belong To

October 4 2024

Dads want to join golf clubs and football clubs. But for those men who find themselves experiencing child loss, Trevor Dwyer-Lynch has set up ‘The Exclusive Club Dad’s Don’t Wanna Belong To’. Today Trevor tells us about how setting up his podcast has given him a way of expressing his own feelings, and hopefully helping other men acknowledge and express theirs. There’s also Buddhism and poetry…

Episode 12: Back to Work

October 4 2024

Is work a saviour or a source of anxiety after loss? What can employers do better to support bereaved parents? What happens when you find your job just doesn’t seem to matter any more? How do you work out what to do next? Jillian Bain, a bereaved mum herself and Career Development Professional from Scotland, talks us through some of the complexities of grief and a return to work, and how we might navigate this aspect of life after loss.

Episode 11: Black Baby Loss

October 4 2024

At 25 weeks pregnant, Pete’s wife Gina knew something was wrong. Their concerns unaddressed by health professionals, they suffered the loss of their baby boy Danté. With incredible calm and candour, Pete shares the harrowing series of failures that led to this terrible outcome, and we discuss the glaring health inequalities that black parents face during pregnancy and birth.

Episode 10: Year Two

September 20 2024

‘Are you kidding me? I’ve got to go through all this AGAIN?’ Realising your grief hasn’t actually ‘got better’ after the first anniversary of loss can cause absolute despair. The idea of facing another tumultuous year of pain and heartache seems impossible. Clare Louise, author of And Always Annaliese, shares her story about how she coped with Year 2 and beyond after losing Annaliese in 2018. With Debbie, she discusses some of the key issues that arise in this difficult phase and examines some of the theories and practices that might help you get through.

Episode 9 - Bereaved Parents’ Day Special – Aisha Peters and Damali Beautiful Vision CIC

In this Bereaved Parents' Day special Aisha Peters shares her words of hope and talks of how she has created a Beautiful Vision in her daughter Damali’s name. When Damali died suddenly aged just 3, Aisha had nowhere to turn that offered the safe and culturally appropriate support she needed. Now she’s the CEO of a wonderful organisation called Damali Beautiful Vision CIC.

Episode 8 - Finding Hope: Sudden Death, Organ Donation and Fi’s legacy (featuring Vicki Caldwell and FEES Fund)

Vicki lost her daughter Fi in a road traffic incident and her parents helped to enact her wish to become an organ donor. Vicki talks about that process, and how she finds ‘active grief’ allows her to pursue a happy and fulfilling life without taking away from the sadness of losing Fi. She also tells us about how Fi continues to drive some amazing things that are done in her name, mainly relating to FEES Fund.

Episode 7 - Research and Resources: Grief Etiquette and Continuing Bonds (featuring Dr Jennie Dayes from Manchester Metropolitan University and Legacy and Love)

Dr Jennie Dayes explains her research and takes us through how she came to produce some rather lovely continuing bonds resources and shares her research into grief etiquette when dealing the most devastating loss of a child.

Episode 6 - Giving Back: Batten’s Disease and Befriending (featuring the Batten’s Disease Family Association)

Lynsey lost both of her beautiful children Ellie Mae and Caleb to Batten’s Disease, a rare and complex disease that is always fatal. She speaks with grace and compassion about her family’s journey through these terrible losses, and how she is now able to help others facing similar challenges, as a peer befriender.

Episode 5 - Stories and Support: The Compassionate Friends Library

In this episode we hear from Mary, who runs a fabulous library for The Compassionate Friends, an organisation working across the UK to support bereaved parents. Mary shares her own story of loss of her daughter Claire and explains how she chooses books for others and shares some of her favourite and most important book choices.

Episode 4 - Dave’s Story: Losing George, Finding Support (featuring Mentell and Stockport County!)

We explore a Dad's viewpoint on child loss. After losing his son George to suicide in 2021, Dave Thompson opens up about his mental health journey, support groups, and his newfound love for Stockport County.

Episode 3 - A New Purpose: Reuben’s Retreat

Two days after the devastating loss of her 23-month-old son Reuben, Nic Graham decided to set up a charity giving families of children with complex needs or illnesses the holidays they needed to create the memories they deserved. Nic tells her story and how she found purpose by building Reuben’s Retreat.

Episode 2 - The Newly Bereaved (featuring Michelle Meredith from the Child Death Helpline)

This episode is for newly bereaved parents. Our guest is Michelle Meredith from the Child Death Helpline, and she and Debbie Enever, hope to offer you some reassurance, some gentle words of support, and to help you perhaps find some further sources of help and advice.

Episode 1 - Trailer

Episode one launches the Bereaved Parents' Club and Debbie Enever our podcast host describes the purpose behind the podcasts and how she felt there was a need to provide other parents stories as a way of offering hope and support to bereaved parents. The Bereaved Parents' Club was launched on 27th May marking the 6th anniversary of Debbie's 15-year-old son Dan’s death.