Richmond and Isabella Plantation London Walk

26 April 2025, 11.00 – 16.00

Richmond

We are very sorry but booking for this walk has now closed. If you would like to join the waiting list for a place on this walk please email events@tcf.org.uk Thank you.

Bereaved parent and TCF volunteer Terry is running his first supportive London Walk of 2025 in Richmond, only a 16-minute train journey from Waterloo Railway station. 

Terry writes:

We will meet at 11am Waterloo Railway Station, and board the train to Richmond**

(If anyone wishes to meet at Richmond, please be outside the station ready to leave promptly when the main group arrives.)

We will make our way from Richmond Station through charming streets of elegant houses to Richmond Park where we may see deer as we continue to the Victorian woodland enclosure of the Isabella Plantation. At this time of the year, it should be awash with colour from the various blooms especially the azaleas and rhododendrons. With its streams & ponds, Isabella Plantation can feel like a Magical Kingdom.

We will stop for lunch, and you will be able to purchase lunch from a nearby café**, or you are welcome to bring your own packed lunch.

In the afternoon we leave the Park to admire the famous view from Richmond Hill, described by Sir Walter Scott as “An unrivalled landscape”.

We then descend from the Hill to the Thames to walk back to the Station or to a traditional pub nearby for those who wish to stay on for a well-earned drink. The walk will finish at approximately 4pm.

Our walk will be for approximately 5 miles in total at a steady pace. Please note that this walk is not suitable for those who require walking aids or who might find the pace too demanding.

The walks are free and are designed to offer you an opportunity to socialise and chat to other bereaved parents and siblings as well as to offer some exercise to support our mental and physical wellbeing.

Please note that the details of this walk may be subject to change

What a parent told us after a previous London Walk:

‘Thank you again for organising and leading the TCF London walks. It makes such a difference to meet other families who have lost a much-loved child. It’s not just the walk itself... but about having a date in the diary and something to look forward to and to reflect back on. Plus, the walks spark important conversations before and afterwards within our family about our son - and how much he meant to us all - which we might otherwise not be able to have. My husband and I talked more on the train to London than we have had the chance to do for a while. And again, around the dinner table with the rest of the family when we got home. It’s a way of acknowledging and giving space to such tragedy and the deepest loss we know is felt by everyone in the group. Thank you again.’

***

We ask that you wait until you have been bereaved for at least 3 months before joining our supportive walks. New walk dates are regularly added, and we hope to welcome you at a future walk.

Our peer support is for parents bereaved of a child from one month old to an adult son or daughter, from any cause. We also offer support to bereaved grandparents and adult siblings (aged 18+)

Please call our Helpline on 0345 1232304 or email helpline@tcf.org.uk for support. 

We look forward to seeing those who have walked with us before, and to welcome those who are joining us for the first time.

If you haven’t walked with us yet, please don’t feel daunted or anxious about joining. You’ll quickly find yourself part of a warm, friendly and supportive community of others who have experienced similar bereavements.

**A welcome email will be sent out approximately one week before the walk, providing additional information and details about the meeting and lunch point. This email will come from info@tcf.org.uk, so please keep an eye out for it. (It may sometimes end up in junk or spam folders, so please check there if you’ve registered and haven’t received the email.)

Please remember, if you bring a friend or relative for initial support, they will not be able to join the walk itself unless they are also a bereaved parent, grandparent, or adult bereaved sibling.

As this is a supportive walk, we ask that you stay together as a group for the duration of the walk.

Please note that individuals join a TCF walk at their own risk. 

TCF supportive walks are kindly sponsored by Ramble Worldwide Outdoor Trust.