36 tcf.org.uk “A much-welcomed safe place where you can laugh and cry freely and be understood.” Earlier this year, we visited St Sidwell’s Community Centre in Exeter with a team of wonderful bereaved parent volunteers who together welcomed 30 bereaved parents to the venue. The following week, the TCF team and volunteers made their way to Greyfriars Charteris Centre in Edinburgh for a second day supporting 45 parents. The events began, as all our support days and retreats do, with refreshments, everyone collecting their lanyard with their name, their location, and the name of their beloved child or children and a short welcome and introduction to the day. These were followed by small breakout groups for parents to introduce themselves and their children to each other, with the support of volunteer group facilitators. Sam’s mum, Mari, commented “The small introductory group session was very supportive and well moderated…And I feel group members felt safe and shared their stories of loss in a supportive way, in the company of moderators who themselves had firsthand experience of similar tragic loss, with many of our young people having struggled with their mental wellbeing. It seems to me that having a small session group at the beginning of the day makes everyone feel less alone and less isolated.” Throughout the day, there were sharing sessions for parents to choose from that focused on various aspects of grief, such as managing social situations, surviving the early years of child loss, continuing bonds and a memory café, where parents shared precious memories of Support days for bereaved parents TCF NEWS | SUPPORTIVE EVENTS
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