Online Support Group for Parents Bereaved of their only Child or all their Children

23 January 2025, 19.00

Online Via Zoom

We’re sorry but this online support group is now fully booked. We do give priority to those who have not attended a group before and we do sometimes have cancellations so if you would like to attend please email us at events@tcf.org.uk  to go on the waiting list. Thank you.

ABOUT THE GROUP

The issues we face can be different and more intense from those confronting bereaved parents with surviving children. Some of us suffer a double grief - both the loss of our child and, if we have no grandchildren, the loss of our family’s future. Issues we might discuss include - feeling alone and isolated, difficulty finding any meaning and purpose. Perhaps the prospect of old age is frightening and we may also wonder who should be the beneficiary of our inheritance of money and precious items.

We may find ourselves preoccupied with the question “Am I still a parent?”.

Our grief may change over time. How can we continue to be a parent, continuing the bond with our child who has died and what helps and sustains our relationship.

From parents at a recent group:

‘I have always tried to express how losing your only child feels to others but have always felt that they don’t understand. I felt understood during this meeting.’

I was nervous about attending and I didn’t need to be, this journey we are all going on no matter what the age of your child is, is a journey no one else can relate to unless they have lost a child themselves so it helps to speak to others who understand how you feel and can relate to certain emotions

...it’s the only group where we have no surviving children and it caters purely for our unique situation. We are spread across the country.’

‘It is the first group session I have attended anywhere where I feel everyone understood each other.’

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

This group is for those whose only child or children have died.

This is a facilitated online group using Zoom . Unfortunately due to the nature of online groups we will be limiting the number of attendees and booking is via our website. We will confirm your attendance by email. If this event is fully booked we will run further groups at a later date to give more parents the opportunity to attend.

Once you book you will receive more details closer to the meeting date. Just a reminder to check your spam or junk email folders if you haven’t received the link for the online meeting by the day of the meeting. Please contact events@tcf.org.uk if you have any questions or queries.

If you are newly bereaved:
Please note, our online support group meetings may not be the most appropriate form of support for very newly bereaved parents. We know how vulnerable we can be in the early weeks and months of our grief and how raw the pain and heartache can feel.

In an online support environment, we will of course do all we can to express our empathy to newly bereaved parents verbally but we won’t be able to offer the very important physical presence and contact that physical groups can offer especially when parents become very upset. Our online meetings tend to be shorter than physical meetings which also means that we won’t have as much time to hear from all group members in the ways in which we would do if we were meeting face to face.

We know that in the early days of our grief, there is a strong need to tell our ‘story’ about the loss of our precious child. We know that this is a very important part of grieving – however, our support groups, whether online or face to face can only offer the opportunity to say a little about your loss and in not too much detail so as to enable everyone to have a chance to speak and also to minimise the risk of anyone attending being re-traumatised around their own loss by hearing graphic details of someone else’s loss. It would help to know how early you are in your loss and whether you are already receiving TCF support – what we don’t wish to do is increase the vulnerability of any bereaved parent by not managing your expectations about what our support group offers and is unable to offer. We may make contact if we need to explore with you whether our online group support is the most appropriate way to support you at this stage in your loss.

Please note that these online events are run by bereaved parent volunteers. Our volunteers are not professionals and so what we offer is a uniquely warm, comforting and supportive online group organised and facilitated by parents who have also experienced the loss of a child and have found understanding and hope themselves through The Compassionate Friends.

If your loss is within the last 3 months we ask that you wait a little longer before accessing our online support. Our Helpline on 0345 123 2304 is here if you would like to talk with another bereaved parent who is there to listen and empathise. 

PLEASE BOOK HERE