Online Support Group for Parents Bereaved by a Road Traffic Incident

22 April 2025, 19.00 – 20.30

Online Via Zoom

PLEASE BOOK HERE

These groups are suitable for parents who have been bereaved for at least three months. If your loss is more recent (under three months), we encourage you to contact our helpline for one-to-one listening support on 0345 123 2304 – our helpline team are all bereaved parent volunteers.

***

Roads are perhaps the most dangerous zones in our modern world. A random mechanical failure or a momentary lapse of concentration can have fatal consequences.

A child may be fatally injured crossing the road. A younger child riding their bike, or an adult cyclist could be a victim. A child of any age might have been a passenger in a vehicle involved in a collision. Our child’s death on the roads may have been caused by a stranger’s dangerous or reckless driving. Our feelings may be even more conflicted if our child was the driver and at fault.

When our child dies on the road and we are in a state of shock. Every parent who has been confronted with the sudden death of their child, at whatever age, knows the devastation. Our existence, life itself, is changed for ever in an instant.

Any parent whose child has died struggles in some way to find a way forward. However, this struggle may be even harder for those bereaved in such a sudden and traumatic way.

What parents have said after an earlier support group:

‘It was fantastic to connect with other parents who know what it is to lose a child in a road traffic accident...I Having the opportunity to speak within a group who all understand the shock and the pain of this meant so much to me. Being heard was even better.’

‘...we had all lost a child in an RTC and ... I felt like I was talking to people just like me. People that understood my grief and were walking the same grief path and traumatic experience of a sudden and tragic loss of our child. I came away not feeling alone and I was listened to. It was like listening to myself hearing others stories.’

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

This online support group is for parents who are bereaved of a child due to an RTI.

To ensure the group remains as supportive as possible, we limit the number of attendees. Once you book, you will receive further details and the Zoom link closer to the meeting date. If you do not receive the link by the day of the meeting, please check your spam or junk folders. For any queries, please contact info@tcf.org.uk.

When you book for this group, you will be directed to a webpage where we ask you to share some details about your bereavement including whether you are already receiving support from our charity. We appreciate the strong need to share what has happened particularly in the early months and years of our loss – however, to ensure we keep our groups as safe and supportive as possible, we ask that everyone shares the time equally during the sessions. We ask too that no graphic details are shared given these can be triggering and traumatising for everyone.

We kindly ask that you join the group using a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet to ensure the best experience. If you use a mobile phone, you may not be able to see all other participants in the session which can detract from the group experience for you and for other attendees. We ask too that you keep your video on throughout the session.

Please note that our online support groups are facilitated by bereaved parent volunteers who are not professionals. What we hope to offer is a uniquely warm, understanding, and supportive space led by parents who have also experienced the loss of a child and have found connection and hope through The Compassionate Friends.

Since spaces are limited, please book via this webpage to secure your place. Bookings can only be made online. If the session is full, priority will be given to parents who have not attended a Compassionate Friends online support group before.

For any further questions, please contact events@tcf.org.uk.

Please note: This group is for bereaved parents in the UK only. If you are joining from outside the UK, please email us at events@tcf.org.uk for further guidance.

If you are very newly bereaved:
Please note that our online support groups are not suitable for parents who are very newly bereaved. In the early weeks when we are experiencing such raw, vulnerable grief, online support can’t offer the physical presence, comfort and reassurance needed. In some situations, we may contact you to determine if our online group is the right support for you at this time even if you are more than 3 months’ bereaved.

For any further questions, please contact events@tcf.org.uk

PLEASE BOOK HERE