A bereavement charity set the tone for spring through a fundraising event in Wimbledon Common on Saturday to assist the newly bereaved in accessing support.
The Good Grief Trust aims to compile a bereavement package to make information from different charities and support groups and readily available to help people through the process of losing a loved one.
The package aims to be the UK’s first fully online comprehensive support network available to the newly bereaved in signposting them to targeted help to cope with their loss.
Founder Linda Magistris said: “This would help rectify the holes faced in the current system, where the information is not signposted — rather it is given sporadically to some of the bereaved and not to others.”
She intends to use the package to work within the current system.
“It will help save the NHS money by signposting the bereaved with targeted help to cope with the loss of their loved ones,” she said.
Linda has recent experience with the bereavement — just over two years ago she lost her husband to a rare form of cancer.
She joined the peer-to-peer support charity Widowed and Young and, shortly after her first host meeting, her research into the lack of information available to the bereaved began.
Linda found shared difficulties faced by the bereaved and became determined to resolve the issues these people would face in accessing the support they needed.
The trust aims to filter the package in to hospitals, hospices and GP clinics nationwide in order to have access to the widest range of people.
With continuous development on their website, the trust hopes to develop a short film showcasing the struggle faced by families and friends suffering from loss and how the package can be of use to them.
