TESCO NI SHOPPERS SUPPORT BEREAVED CHILDREN
Charity Cruse Bereavement Support has received a £1,500 grant from Tesco as part of the Stronger Starts scheme, enabling them to train two new local bereavement volunteers. They will provide vital grief support to seven children and young people in the East Belfast area coping with the loss of a loved one.
According to the charity, while the true number of bereaved children and young people in Northern Ireland remains uncertain due to limited research, statistics from 2022 reveal a stark reality: 900 parents with dependent children died. During that year, 1,600 children were bereaved of a parent, or around 30 children per week. These figures don’t include those grieving the loss of siblings, grandparents, friends or other family members.
The effects of grief can be profound, impacting a child’s mental and physical health, relationships, family life, and education. Cruse Bereavement Support provides expert, compassionate care for children as young as four years-old, offering weekly 50-minute one-on-one sessions with highly trained volunteers. These safe and confidential sessions help children process their grief, express emotions, and develop coping strategies.
To further aid emotional healing, sessions incorporate creative activities such as memory jars, poetry, arts and crafts, and role-play, allowing children to cherish fond memories of their loved ones in a positive way.
Eleanor Ellerslie, Project Manager at Cruse, highlighted the importance of early intervention: “Evidence shows prompt support can reduce the risk of experiencing trauma later in life and teach coping strategies to help during difficult times.”
“Training more volunteers means we can provide bereavement support to children and young people at one of the most difficult times in their lives, so we’d like to thank Tesco for their support,” Eleanor added. “The training we provide is intensive to ensure the safety of the volunteers and bereaved children. They will provide one-on-one and group support within our Belfast branch and community settings.”
One of the charity’s volunteers shared their experience, “After completing my training, I am certainly more confident helping our young people and seeing their progression builds my own self-esteem as well as theirs. Their achievements and successes are mine also. The work we do as volunteers is invaluable to them and I am grateful to be able to help them deal with their tragic losses.”
The Stronger Starts scheme, in partnership with the Groundwork charity, aims to support many Northern Ireland community projects and good causes in the coming years, with thousands of pounds to give away.
Claire De Silva, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “We’re delighted that we can help charities like Cruse Bereavement Support. Stronger Starts invites our customers to use their blue tokens to vote for local schemes they feel will benefit people of all ages, and it’s so good to see the impact that the funding makes.”
NI shoppers can support their local schools and charities by dropping the Tesco blue token they receive at checkout into the relevant voting box as they leave the store.
For further information on how to make a difference at Tesco stores across NI, please go to https://tescostrongerstarts.org.uk
To make a donation to Cruse Bereavement Support, please visit https://www.cruse.org.uk/donate/
