Supporting you with bereavement

Most people experience grief when they lose someone close to them. Bereavement, grief and loss can cause many different symptoms and can have serious long-lasting effects on people. Grief can affect us emotionally, physically, socially and in various practical areas of our life.

Over the last few years, many of us, unfortunately, have experienced bereavement and loss, either at work or in our personal lives. While grief is a normal, healing emotion, experiencing it can be overwhelming.

We have a range of bereavement support available for you if you need it.
 

Bereavement helplines

• Cruse Bereavement UK: 0808 808 1677 (check website for times)
   
• Thames Hospice UK  Call 01753 847300 (9am-5pm, everyday)
• Bereavement | What we offer | Hospice UK Call 0300 303 4434, 'Just B’ counselling and trauma helpline is available 8am - 8pm every day.

• Grief Chat Call 01524 889823 (Mon-Fri 9am-9pm) or email info@griefchat.co.uk for free, professional grief support with a qualified bereavement counsellor.  
   

Coping with bereavement and grief​

• Good Grief Trust website​
• Age UK: Bereavement​
• Bereavement Advice Centre: Useful contacts
• Bereavement: A guide for Transsexual, Transgender people and their loved ones
• London Friend LGBT Bereavement Helpline
• ​NHS understanding bereavement in different cultures

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Coping with suicide bereavement  

All bereavement and grief can be emotionally traumatic and devastating. But suicide loss often brings additional emotions to navigate, making the grieving process more difficult. If you are struggling with suicide bereavement, there is a range of help available:
 

Suicide bereavement support
 

• Amparo Thames Valley – Support after Suicide 
  To refer a person who has been affected by suicide into Amparo: Call 0300 088 9255 or visit amparo.org.uk 
  
  Amparo service, part of the Listening Ear network, is our local bereavement support provider. Amparo offers free support to individuals and families across Thames Valley, as well as for professionals who are supporting the bereaved. This includes:
   
  • Contact within 24 hours of a referral
  • One to one support from a named Amparo Liaison Worker
  • Information, practical and emotional support
  • Practical support liaising with Police and other agencies
  • Support at Inquest
  • Help with any media enquiries
  • Referrals and signposting to other services as required
  • CYP (children and young people) counselling
  • Zoom awareness sessions for professionals – https://amparo.org.uk/free-briefing-session/
  • To seek support yourself, or refer someone, call 0300 088 9255 or visit amparo.org.uk 
     

• Bereavement support line for NHS staff, operated by Hospice UK, confidential and free to access from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week where they can speak to a fully qualified and trained bereavement specialist. Call 0300 303 4434.

• Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)  – support for men, call 0800 58 58 58, from 5pm to midnight every day, or their online web chat.

• Papyrus – for people under 35, call 0800 068 41 41  Monday to Friday 9am to 10pm, or weekends and bank holidays from 2pm to 10pm.

• Samaritans  – support for everyone. Call their 24-hour helpline on 116 123. 
   
• Suicide and Co provides one-to-one professional support through talking therapies, counselling services and a help hub, by opening the conversation around suicide related grief. Email: info@suicideandco.org
   
• Survivors of bereavement by suicideprovide resources including booklets, videos, poetry written by survivors and a helpline, on:
  0300 111 5065 Mon & Tues 9am – 5pm, or email:  support@uksobs.org
  Support for men, email: bereaveMENt@uksobs.org
  Punjabi Speaking Women’s Group, email: birmingham@uksobs.org or contact 07376 303 438
   
• Facing the future- free support groups on Zoom to meet others who've lost someone to suicide and share your experiences and feelings. Run by trained facilitators from Samaritans and Cruse Bereavement Support, once a week for six consecutive weeks, 90 minutes per session.
   
• Find local suicide bereavement support- use this specialised directory by ataloss.org  to search for local support that fits your needs.

Stay Alive app

The Stay Alive app is a pocket suicide prevention resource for the UK, packed full of useful information to help you stay safe. You can use it if you are having thoughts of suicide or if you are concerned about someone else who may be considering suicide.

It has resources, a safety plan, customisable reasons for living, and a life box to store photos that are important to you.

• Get it on Google Play

• Download on the App store

• Web version - if you don't have access to a phone, or prefer to use a laptop or PC

Find this and other apps in our page Free Wellbeing Apps

Resources after a death by suicide

• Supporting yourself after a death by suicide_Wellbeing Matters guide.pdf 
  This short information sheet from the Wellbeing Matters team explains some of the common reactions to a death by suicide and ways you can support yourself and those around you.
   

• How to share news of a death or suspected suicide with colleagues or patients 
  A one page guide of tips from Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Support After Suicide Partnership resources 

The Support After Suicide Partnership is a UK wide network of national and local organisations involved in suicide bereavement support across the UK. They are a special interest group of the National Suicide Prevention Alliance (NSPA) based at Samaritans. They have some useful webpages and guides.

• What might happen next - a timeline to guide you through the first days, weeks and months after you've experienced a loss by suicide
   
• How you might be feeling - explores the various ways you may feel and react 
   
• Help is at Hand - Support if someone may have died by suicide - a guide by National Suicide Prevention Alliance and Public Health England, to support you with grieving the death of a loved one by suicide
   
• Supporting someone else - ideas on how to support someone else who has been bereaved by suicide
   
• Finding the words - downloadable booklet on how to support someone else who has been bereaved by suicide
   
• First hand- Making sense of the lasting memories and emotions following the death by suicide of someone you didn’t know
   
• More resources from Support After Suicide Alliance - a useful library of free guides and leaflets to download on topics including safer universities | inquests | support for families | support after suicide of a child | guides for employers
   

Videos

• Film – Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (uksobs.org)
   

Resources for employers - helping you support a staff member affected by suicide 

• NHS Employers - suicide prevention and postvention resources, information on the impact of suicide and how employers can best support their staff, including a toolkit developed with The Samaritans and guidance for specific groups like ambulance workers, primary care.
   
• National Suicide Prevention Alliance workplace resources, for those working in or interested in mental health and suicide prevention. Including guidance on supporting mental health staff following a death of a patient by suicide, guides for young people and for workplaces.

Suicide prevention training

There are courses available to help you recognise the part we can all play in preventing suicide

Zero suicide alliance training   

• Free online courses teach you the skills and confidence to have a potentially life-saving conversation with someone you’re worried about.  
• Duration: 20 mins (or 10 min short version).  
• Also offers a social isolation add-on module (5-10mins), a university student edition, a veteran edition 
• Welsh language edition, British Sign Language (BSL) version. 
   

Suicide prevention training  

• Provider: e-learning for healthcare 
• Duration: Around 1 hour, online 
• This course is designed to help all of us recognise the part we can play in preventing suicide in our day-to-day interactions. 
   

You may also be interested in

• Mental Health First Aid training - learn how to support colleagues
• REACTMH Training - how to have supportive conversations about mental wellbeing
• Support for your mental health
• Other ways we support you