TCF News, Spring 2023

Spring 2023 - TCF Newsletter | tcf.org.uk 9 New cotton tote bag New supportive leaflet Coping with Overwhelming Grief Nothing can prepare us for the pain we experience if our child dies. Our feelings can overwhelm us. When our grief is consuming us and we cannot think about anything else, we need coping strategies. In this leaflet we look at what might help, based on the experiences of other bereaved parents and the advice of grief researchers. Downloadable at tcf.org.uk/overwhelminggrief Help us to spread the word about The Compassionate Friends and our support for bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents with this 100% cotton bag. Printed blue on natural colour cotton. Every purchase goes to support and raise awareness of our charity. £5 each - includes p&p. Coping with overwhelming grief Anationwideorganisationofbereavedparents and their familiesoffering supportafterachilddies. Chesterfield Support Day Over 35 grieving parents found support and empathy at the Derbyshire support day held last November in Chesterfield. Sharon Rose, TCF’s Events Manager, commented… “Many tears were shed but there was so much laughter and warmth as well. It’s quite extraordinary to see the difference a few hours spent together can make to so many parents”. We received some wonderful feedback from the day: “Although I wasn’t sure of attending right up to the last minute I was pleased I did , it enabled me to talk about the past in a way that is just not appropriate, appreciated or really welcome for many to hear. To be among like-minded people made it much easier, I think we were each able to appreciate one-another’s situation and I think we all benefited as I know I did”. Thank you to volunteers Emma Smith, Jan Alcock, Lorna Rann, Pat Thompson, Shirley Gower and Sharon Rose who were supporting on the day.