Latest news
Trustee Election 2020
Do you have passion, skills and expertise that could help The Compassionate Friends (TCF) to continue to improve and develop in the coming years? The voluntary role of Trustee with our charity is both rewarding and fulfilling and our currentBoard of Trustees would like to invite interested applicants to apply to help run our charitable organisation which offers peer support, understanding and hope to bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents. In November 2020 there will be 6 vacancies for elected Trustees on our Board.
The Board would be particularly assisted by individuals with skills and experience in areas such as but not limited to
* Human Resources
* Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
* Communications/Marketing
* Experience of Health Service/Mental Health Services
* Digital Marketing/Social Media
* Training and Events Management
We are highly committed to widening the diversity of the Board and warmly encourage applications from a broad and deep range of backgrounds and experiences.
Personal Reflections on Finding Meaning
Bereaved mother and Compassionate Friends Grief Companion Coordinator, Shirley Gower, offers her personal reflections on TCF's online event held in early August with inspiring guest speaker, Dr Sangeeta Majahan. Over 170 attended to listen to Sangeeta's honest, moving and helpful talk on Finding Meaning After Loss.
(please note that we were unable to record the first 10 minutes of Sangeeta's talk).
"There were so many beautiful thoughts in Sangeeta’s presentation, that I would recommend you seek out the video recording and let them all wash over you. The reactions from the watching audience were coming in waves as each person responded individually to an image or thought that resonated with them personally.
Finding Meaning After Loss
Join us on 5 August at 7 pm ONLINE to hear Dr Sangeeta Mahajan on the importance, possibility and ways of finding meaning after deep loss.
After the sudden loss of her beautiful son to suicide, Sangeeta lost all sense of self. Nothing made sense in this world of the ‘After’ she had been unwillingly pushed into. Nothing carried any value. Not even her own life.
Despite being a doctor, she had no clue how to carry on until she found purpose. That was the key to her survival despite the darkness of her grief.
Nearly 6 years on, she shares her big challenges and little victories on this rocky road.
Dr Sangeeta Mahajan is a Mental Health activist and educator and a Trustee of the national charity for prevention of young suicide, PAPYRUS. She dreams of a world where everyone lives with hope. Aside from individually supporting parents and young people, she has been a keynote speaker at various national conferences in the UK and in India. She also works as a Consultant Anaesthetist at a major teaching hospital in London.
Sangeeta has also spoken at retreats and weekend events run by The Compassionate Friends. Her words are always honest, moving, inspiring, helpful and hopeful for anyone who has suffered deep loss. We are truly delighted that she has agreed to begin, what we hope will be, a series of talks for bereaved parents and their families.
This event is free to attend online but we ask you, if you can, to help us to fund our services for bereaved parents through a voluntary donation when registering to attend. Once you register you will receive the Zoom link to attend the event.
REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT HERE
Compassion magazine - now in new flipping book format!
The summer 2020 editions of the Compassionate Friends' bereavement support magazines have just been published and mailed out to all donating members of our charity. Thank you to all our editors and amazing contributors for the time and attention they have taken in making these publications so supportive and helpful to bereaved parents and siblings.
We are delighted, this month, to be able to put these 4 regular publications into a new digital flipping book format allowing you to ead them on your tablet, phone or computer.
View them all here:
Grieving in isolation - stories from bereaved parents and siblings
We asked some of our bereaved parents and sibling Compassionate Friends members to share how they have been coping during the lock down and distancing restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
We hope you will find some aspects you can relate to - to know you are not alone - and maybe discover some tips for yourself in managing this period of isolation. Thank you to bereaved parents Maria, Mary, Clare, Claire and Abi, and to siblings Kyla, Catherine and Anmika for sharing their thoughts with us.
RSSSupport our work
Each year thousands of parents suffer the loss of a son or a daughter. Please help TCF to support families in their time of greatest need.
Tell us what you think
Whatever your contact with TCF we encourage you to give us feedback so that we can continue to improve our support.
