34 tcf.org.uk TCF NEWS | IN MEMORIAM Wendy and her family (her late husband Jack and me, her daughter Eleanor) first had contact with Compassionate Friends in June 1987 when their son and my brother, Matthew, was killed in a military accident in Canada aged just 20. The first contact was with some of the support group based in Luton. We as a family all found the support gained from the very first contact such a help and relief to know that we weren’t going to be facing this most difficult and challenging of times alone. Wendy very soon got involved with supporting other families going through grief and loss and this then evolved into the writing and developing of leaflets and documents. She was a regular participant at seminars and group events, making and selling cards etc. This eventually led to her volunteering on the telephone helpline for over 15 years. She found this another rewarding, and sometimes challenging, way to help all those needing to have direct contact with others in similar situations, be it parents, siblings, or grandparents. Some of these initial conversations, and then meeting up at the seminars, had turned into specially linked friendships for her and Dad and had continued to help many years later. It also helped us to keep the memory of Matthew uppermost – to continue talking and remembering is key. Sadly, Mum had to give up the helpline assistance after her stroke. Although some contact was still on-going and very important to her and Dad. We lost Dad in 2021, and Mum then had to go into a care home as her dementia and progressed rapidly. In the four years since then and until she passed away recently in March this year, she was still getting letters and cards from some of the friendships she had made back in 1987. I now have the magazine, Compassion, delivered to me directly and am now passing this, along with my experiences, onto our Mental Health team at work to see if we can help in anyway there too. Remembering Wendy Walters shared by Eleanor Murdoch (Wendy’s daughter)
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