WAY Widowed and Young
WAY is a UK charity that offers a peer-to-peer support network for anyone who’s lost a partner before their 51st birthday.
WAY Widowed and Young is the only national charity in the UK for men and women aged 50 or under when their partner died.
The charity offers a unique peer-to-peer support network to young widowed people – inclusive of sexual orientation, gender, race and religion – as they adjust to life after the death of their partner.
Founded in 1997, WAY now has nearly 4,700 members across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. More than two-thirds of WAY members have children.
What WAY offers
76% of members polled in WAY’s latest survey found that meeting people in the same situation has helped.1
WAY has a secure members’ only website that offers a safe place for members to meet and chat online 24 hours a day; members also have access to a confidential telephone helpline service that offers free counselling as well as legal and financial advice.
The charity organises several weekends away each year for adults and families – offering an alternative social life for people who have lost their partner at a young age, as well as for their children.
WAY’s peer support network draws on a network of 160+ volunteers who have all been widowed themselves and who, together with WAY members, organise social groups in 62 areas throughout the UK that meet up for coffee, meals out, walks, picnics and other member-friendly events, including online quizzes and yoga.
WAY has a joining fee of £25 per year to cover the services offered to members. However, the charity’s Memorial Fund offers support to cover the joining cost for anyone who is struggling financially.
Visit www.widowedandyoung.org.uk for more information, follow them on social media @widowedandyoung or drop their friendly team a line at enquiries@widowedandyoung.org.uk
1 Based on 372 members’ responses in May 2023
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