National Grief Awareness Week

Grief is something that affects us all. At some point in our lives, we will all feel the impact of losing a loved one.   

National Grief Awareness Week is a campaign run by The Good Grief Trust to help raise awareness of the impact of grief and to create a unified voice for all bereavement support services.  

As much as we are all impacted by it, there is no right or wrong way to deal with our grief.  

Just because someone is smiling, it doesn’t mean that they are not grieving; each of us is unique and we all have our own ways of showing our emotions. The most important thing is to look out for each other, and support your loved ones, friends and colleagues when they are struggling. 

Talking about the person who has died can often be a comfort. We may think that we are reminding the person grieving of their loss and it will cause upset, but this is generally the opposite. By sharing memories and saying their name shows that you care and will help to keep their memory alive.  

Grieving has no expiry date. There’s no set time of how long you’re allowed to grieve for. Loss is not something that you ‘get over’ or ‘move on’ from. We can all move forward and learn to live with our bereavement with the right care and support from those around us.  

Thankfully, there are many support services out there to offer practical and emotional support for bereavement. Sometimes we need a friendly face and shoulder to cry on, and sometimes it takes a more tailored support approach. Whichever you need, please don’t suffer in silence. The Good Grief Trust website is a great place to start: How do I find help near me? – The Good Grief Trust