Author: Change, Loss and Bereavement in Highland

As communities around Scotland remember, tell stories, celebrate and reminisce about people they have loved and who have died, it might be that you know of a child or young person who has been bereaved. You might also be wondering how to support them. Some of the information in our Tragic Event Guidance may be helpful. There is a section with advice on how to support children and young people who have been bereaved and who are grieving.

Most bereaved young people with supportive networks such as family, friends and school will manage their grief. Having trusted adults around them can make a big difference to a bereaved young person.

Scotland recognised the importance of supporting those who are grieving when the first Bereavement Charter for Adults and Children was launched last year. This Charter provides a set of statements which describe how in Scotland we can support a person or a group of people experiencing bereavement. The Charter declared Good Bereavement Care is a human right and is underpinned by a desire to make sure that in Scotland, we can do all that we can to support people who might be experiencing difficulties following the death of someone they know or somebody in their community.  

As a follow on from yesterday’s post about memories, the booklist, and read aloud stories available on YouTube we have set up our own little Highland CLB group wall of remembrance.

It is on a Jamboard, and we would love it if you wanted to add a memory or a tribute to someone who has died.

The Jamboard is relatively easy to use, just click on the link and select a ‘sticky note’ from the tool bar. You should then be able to write your message and add it to the board.

To Absent Friends Festival has its own board, which you could also contribute to. Or you might want to set up your own one to encourage others to share memories in a less public forum.

Either way, let’s keep sharing stories, enjoying photographs and remembering!

We often talk about the power of remembering. How it keeps people alive, how it is an excuse to remember, to tell stories, to celebrate and to reminisce.

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge shows how powerful remembering can be, not just when someone has died. Children and Young People benefit from books like this being available so as to normalise remembering and talking about people who have died. It gives them permission to remember, and to think of the good times. Children have told us that reading these books at home with family members has allowed them to talk about people who have died and have really special conversations with their loved ones about them.

There are other books on our booklist that talk about memories, such as Badgers Parting Gifts or The Memory Tree.

To Absent Friends Festival takes place every year in Scotland, and is an ‘excuse to remember, to tell stories, to celebrate and to reminisce about people we love who have died’. By taking part, in some way, in the festival; it also allows us to create new memories too.

As a Change, Loss & Bereavement Group we plan to share some resources and thoughts with you over the coming days. Including our own wall of remembrance which you will be able to add to if you wish. Check out the To Absent Friends website for ideas of how to get involved, or for more information about it.

Just a quick reminder of our change, loss, bereavement training opportunities for the term ahead (and the rest of the school session). You do not need to book a place on these. Just sign in with the google meet code on the day.

For those looking for Seasons for Growth training, we have spaces on both the C&YP, and the Parent Programme next year. Scroll down to find our post about all of the training you can access relating to Seasons.

We launched http://www.clbhighland.com officially back in June of this year.
We are delighted so many of you have signed up to the blog, and that you download information we share, sign up to training and tell others about us.

Now we would really like to hear from you. Have you used our website?
What is good? What would make the site even better?
Let us know by adding to our jamboard.

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, to read more about what is happening in Highland please see this news release from The Highland Council, in partnership with the Highland Community Planning Partnership.

If you are supporting a child or young person who has been bereaved by suicide please see our Tragic Events Guidance and our book list for resources and guidance on how best to help them.

We are pleased to be able to share some particularly useful information prepared by the Military Liaison Group and our Promoting Positive Relationships Co-ordinator; Lou Kinnear.

As you will no doubt be aware UK troops have now left Afghanistan and are returning to their bases.  Deployment is a cycle that involves the lead up to and the returning and resettling from a Deployment and can affect Children and Young People and their families in different ways.  The newsletter below should provide you with helpful information and advice that can support and be considered.

The MLG partnership works with Educators and Practitioners providing information, training and resources and provides helpful advice, guidance and support to families of Armed Forces.  Click Here to view the MLG website for further information.

Looking for Change, Loss & Bereavement Training? Or Seasons for Growth Training? You’ve come to the right place! Here are our dates for all things Seasons and CLB this session:

Are you a member of staff working with children, young people and their families? Join us at our Change, Loss & Bereavement Awareness training as listed in the THRIVE section of our training pathway.

To find out more about the C&YP programme click here. Get in touch if you are interested in training with us. Our first round of training this year is at the end of September and we currently still have some availability.

Are you a trained Seasons children and young people’s companion already? Would you like to be able to support parents to support their children through change and loss? Our training for this term is full already but we have three more dates available throughout the year.

Find out more here or contact us to discuss joining us on one of our one day training sessions.

Are you a trained companion looking to attend a re-connector session? We are running one each term, please get in touch to reserve a place and the Trainer running the session will be back in touch with further details.

Has it been a while since you trained in the Seasons CYP Programme? Are you keen to run a group but feel like you could do with a refresh? Get in touch with us to discuss and reserve a place at one of our sessions this year.

Over the summer we have pulled together training opportunities, resources and guidance relating to change and loss. Some of these are training that we can offer you, and others are things that you can access independently or signpost children, young people and their families to.

You can access these interactive PDF documents under Professionals -> Training Pathway.

We have used the Anna Freud THRIVE framework to help you think about what support the children and young people you work with might need, and the level of training that might be best suited to you or your staff to respond to that need.

This document will be updated as new training and resources evolve.

Make sure you download the PDFs so that you can click on the links housed within the document.

Training opportunities

Our Understanding the Impact of change and loss for children, young people and families training will be offered throughout this session. If you are a member of staff looking to join us on this training please come along to one of our online sessions. Details below: