This week (25th to 31st October), Radio 2 is looking at grief and loss. It is their wish to make conversations easier about these difficult emotions. It means that there are lots of great resources available that might be useful for our beneficiaries and their loved ones. Further afield, they might help us all normalise conversations about bereavement, grief and loss. And that is very close to our heart.
Losing someone who is close to you can be devastating. And if you have been caring for that loved one, even more so. Because we understand this, we want to remind our community that Kingham Cottage is available to carers during their first year of bereavement. We are a bereavement resource for carers and we seek to soothe at this difficult time.
And then we want to signpost you to some of the wonderful resources that Radio 2 has made available to us during #griefconversations week.
Explaining death to children
Our top pick is a short conversation between Dr Chatterjee and Julia Samuel. Julia is a pshychotherapist and they talk about explaining death to children. The message is beautifully simple and extends beyond helping children understanding death. There are lessons of simplicity for all of us.
Finding meaning after loss
We have chosen this pick because finding meaning after loss is very hard for carers especially. When your whole life revolves around caring for your loved one who cannot manage without you and then that comes to an abrupt end, there is much to re-build. The panelists at this free event talk about grief being a catalyst for change. For some, loss can be a trigger to create something that will benefit others.
Something a little bit different to soothe
Have you heard of Illustrator Gary Andrews? He began a Doodle-a-Day diary following his wife’s sudden death of sepsis in 2017. His poignant cartoons caused an online sensation, capturing his grief in a visual and often humorous way. Gary’s new book, Finding Joy, is out now. Gary shares his work on Instagram and Twitter and you can find him @GaryScribbler. We love that name and you can see his talent is so much more than scribbling. This BBC article about him is a little old now. It was written in 2018, but it’s still interesting to learn about how sketching soothed him during bereavement after the loss of his wife, Joy when she was only 41.
Love a podcast?
For those who enjoy this media format, this is a great resource for you. BBC Sounds has 20 epidsodes of GriefCast. Cariad Lloyd won podcast of the year in 2018 with these podcasts hosting funny people talking about death and grief.
A reminder
Kingham Cottage is there for you as unpaid carers of loved ones with a life-limiting condition. Please take advantage of it. It’s easy to make a booking and beneficiaries tell us it has a magic that soothes. Many have taken up the opportunity during their first year of bereavement too.
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