There are many organisations & services available at a regional and local level, that provide different types of support & advice for young widowers and their children. I’ve listed those that I have personally used and at some point I will provide an insight into my experience with them. My plan is to also provide a list of other sources of similar & relevant information. I have deliberately not duplicated information here other than where I have described my personal experience of a particular organisation.
The organisations & services that I have used were the ones that I was either recommended to by someone I know or that I was referred to by the midwifery department of the hospital that my wife died at. There will clearly be some over lap of these with those that are relevant to other widowers but these lists are by no means a one size fits all attempt. Others will have lost their wife or partner due to cancer, suicide, a road accident etc. So I think the most relevant point here is for others to seek out the support & advice that is relevant to their circumstances.
The organisations that I used for support are listed below.
- Winston’s Wish
- A charity that supports grieving children and young people
- I used their web site which has lots of information and I got booklets on dealing with bereaved children sent to me
- They also have book recommendations for children to help talk and understand about grief
- Child Bereavement UK
- A charity that supports bereaved children
- They have lots of useful information online
- They train professionals such as teachers who may work with someone who is bereaved
- My local branch offer face to face support for children
- I have called them at various stages to discuss specific things that I have wanted to understand at my childrens grief
- Care For The Family — Widowed Young Support
- This is a Christian organisation but they help anyone
- I attended an away weekend and met others in a similar situation as myself
- Lots of useful information like this advice to friends and family How Other People Can Help
- I used their telephone befriending service which was a life line to me
- Widowed & Young
- A charity for helping young widows and their children through peer to peer support
- I joined a regional network and have been to social events that they organise for people in similar situations
- I have also met up with members of a local group and their children
- Their closed Facebook group is an informal peer to peer support
- Cruse
- A bereavement charity
- They have regional groups and I attended a group counselling session
- The group session was useful particularly for the support from other attendees
- NHS Hospital Birth Reflections Service
- Some hospitals provide a pre and post natal counselling service
- I used my local service to get support
- Home Start
- A charity helping struggling families with young children
- I was referred to them via my son’s health visitor
- A got weekly help for a while from someone who came in and played with my boys while I rested or got on with tasks around the house
