Adults bereaved as children
In the course of our work, we have met many adults who were bereaved as children and received little or no support. They talk to us about how their grief affected their childhoods and how it continues to impact on their lives into adulthood.
At Winston’s Wish, we’ve helped many children and young people access the support they needed, giving them the confidence to live happy and healthy lives. Here, our alumni share their grief and how it has shaped their life as they navigate adulthood.
Join our community
Through our work with bereaved children, we know how valuable it is to meet others with similar experiences. Finding a community who truly understands can help you connect and continue to grow around your grief.
Our exclusive Facebook community allows you to do just that, with over 3,000 members who regularly post and support one another.
I have now seen the amazing impact that Winston’s Wish has on young people first-hand and can honestly say that I wish I had heard about them sooner. Even just with me being involved with other areas of the organisation, it has helped me to grow and learn about my grief and within myself – something I didn’t expect to still be doing at the age of 26.
Ghislaine
I have had to live with a lot. The guilt of ignoring my dad’s memory for so long, the pain that my son and wife will never meet him, the hurt that he will never see me win a race, the fact I will never be able to share a pint with him. But once I accepted his loss and faced my grief, I realised he is always with me
Jack
What I’ve learnt is that being strong requires a lot of energy. Eventually it starts to take its toll. I don’t think I actually started grieving until I was about 23. That’s five years of not really speaking to anyone about my dad or how he died. Part of me regrets keeping this to myself, but I’ve also learnt that it’s not helpful to judge yourself. As they say, hindsight is a fine thing
Lizzie
Adults with unresolved grief
In the course of our work, we have also met many adults who were bereaved as children who received little or no support.
Unresolved grief can have a huge impact on adults whose stories of loss are untold, unheard – whose grief stays silent inside.
But that doesn’t have to be the case anymore, our Facebook community is place where you can connect with other adults whose grief also went unchecked.
Voices of adults who were bereaved as children
Our report ‘Voices of adults bereaved as children,’ gathers the experiences of adults whose parents or siblings died when they were children. This report reinforces the message that meaningful support is important.
The long-term impact of childhood bereavement
In 2018, Winston’s Wish hosted a panel for Adults Bereaved as Children that looked at the long-term impact of unresolved grief. We were joined by Sir AI Aynsley-Green, David Scotland, Colleen McLaughlin and Zoe Bassett.
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