Bereavement: 10 Simple Ways to Support

When a child you work with has lost someone they love, it's easy to freeze. You can't fix it, you're scared of saying the wrong thing, and so it's tempting to say nothing at all.

Saying something is almost always better. You'll see why a plain word like "died" helps a child more than "lost" or "passed away", and why their anger, their tears and even their moments of happiness all need room. And you'll have things to make together. A worry monster gives worries somewhere to go, a pick-me-up prompt card goes with the child for hard moments, and a memory box keeps space for new memories as well as old ones.

The training was first written for a Cornish charity that supports bereaved children.