Compassion, Autumn 2020

Autumn 2020 - Compassion | www.tcf.org.uk 8 but I am sure we shall continue to make use of this incredible resource even when we are again meeting up face to face. Thank you to all those who have volunteered and to those parents and siblings who have taken part. Of course the TCF helpline continues to provide the much needed support for bereaved parents. It is a wonderful resource that TCF provides 365 days a year. It is run with care and vigour by Ruth Mercier and her dedicated team of helpline volunteers. I thank you all. You are at the heart of TCF. Until we can again meet face to face, I know that the staff and volunteers will work relentlessly to ensure that TCF continues to provide the support that every bereaved parent and sibling needs. We are hoping to resume our retreats in the new year with one for newly bereaved parents in February 2021. We shall keep you informed about all retreats on the TCF website. I could not complete this ‘Thoughts from the Chair’ without mentioning the very sad passing of our dear volunteer friend – Robert Treadgold. Robert was a truly loving and caring man and a wonderful volunteer at several of our retreats. He was loved and admired by everyone he met and was truly full of compassion. I was fortunate to have shared with him the facilitation of the online Fathers’ Group in May 2020 and it was a pleasure to work with him. Robert had a way of making everyone feel at ease. Sadly Robert succumbed to illness in June of this year and passed away peacefully on 15th July 2020. Our thoughts are with his wife, Deborah, at this difficult time. We shall be setting out a tribute to Robert in our TCF newsletter. But from me I simply want to say a huge thank you to Robert for everything he did for TCF. Robert will be missed by so many. Until the next time, I wish you all well over the next few months. Andrew x (Fabian’s Dad) As I write this we’re half way through July and the lockdown has begun to ease a bit allowing me to get back to the library in London. I’ve actually surprised myself during the past few months, having got into mindfulness and gardening. To my great amazement I’ve been eating strawberries grown in my own garden, the first time anything edible has come from that wilderness since my rhubarb plant bowed out around ten years ago, and I have beans coming along nicely too. I’m also wearing a cardigan I knitted for myself which is another unusual event; I knit a lot for other people and it’s nice to have made something for myself for a change. However, as I’m one of life’s certified bookworms, it will surprise nobody to hear that a lot of my spare time has been spent reading and investigating books. I’ve got to the stage now where I can read, and enjoy, ‘normal’ books, as opposed to grief books, but it took me quite a few years to get to this stage. I used the library as a reader for around five years before I could even think about reading anything else, which is the main reason why I know the books so well now. I can still vividly remember that first parcel of books I received from Catharine all News from the Catharine Pointer Memorial Library