Cruse Bereavement Support

Hope Again

Cruse offers telephone and website support and, until Covid-19, had been providing face to face support for 60 years. It has a free National Helpline (0808 808 1677) local services and a website specifically for children and young people called Hope Again. Its services are provided by trained volunteers and are confidential and free. Cruse also provides training and consultancy for external organisations and for those who may encounter bereaved people in the course of their work

Each day, more and more people go to Cruse for support, and the impact of the traumatic bereavements, some caused by the pandemic, will be felt for many years to come. In the region of 60% of callers to the Cruse helpline say their grief has been negatively impacted by the pandemic and calls have become more complex.

In 2019-2020, Cruse and Cruse Scotland supported over 67,500 people directly, including children and young people. In 2020, they supported over 32% more people than in 2019, as a result of increased demand from the pandemic.

Children and young people can be particularly vulnerable following a death in their lives. The effects can be profound, resulting in withdrawal and isolation, poor school attendance and achievement, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. Unresolved childhood grief causes enduring and lifelong difficulties.

The Childhood Bereavement Network estimates that 23,000 parents die each year, leaving around 40,000 newly bereaved children under 18. Many others are bereaved of a sibling, grandparent or someone else close. During the pandemic, thousands more children and young people have been bereaved of close relatives and felt the ripple effect of deaths in their communities.

What will our funding support

The grant of £50,000 per year from The Openwork Foundation will help Cruse to support more bereaved children and young people to develop coping tools and resilience.  A Children and Young People’s Service Manager will be appointed to recruit new volunteers, specialising in the support of children and young people.  Cruse will also expand its range of services for children and young people, providing more choice in how they can access the much needed support.

The Openwork Foundation

Through this partnership The Openwork Foundation hopes that more children and young people will be able to access the support services from Cruse and that they have somewhere they can turn to when someone they love dies.