Bereaved Parents' Club – Details, episodes & analysis

‘Are you kidding me? I’ve got to go through all this AGAIN?’

Realising your grief hasn’t actually ‘got better’ after the first anniversary of loss can cause absolute despair. The idea of facing another tumultuous year of pain and heartache seems impossible.

Claire Louise, author of And Always Annaliese, shares her story about how she coped with Year 2 and beyond after losing Annaliese in 2018. With Debbie, she discusses some of the key issues that arise in this difficult phase and examines some of the theories and practices that might help you get through.

This episode is dedicated to Annaliese.

Resources:

And Always Annaliese, by Clare Louise

Midowed: a mother’s grief, by Debbie Enever

Bereaved Parents' Club podcast webpage fore more information and resources

‘Just remember that you're worthy of love. Remember that you're worthy of compassion. You're worthy of having space to laugh.’

To mark National Bereaved Parents Day, Aisha Peters shares her words of hope, and talks of how she has created a Beautiful Vision in her daughter Damali’s name.

When Damali died suddenly aged just 3, Aisha had nowhere to turn that offered the safe and culturally appropriate support she needed. Now she’s the CEO of a wonderful organisation doing just that.   

Damali Beautiful Vision CIC is a community interest company supporting Global Majority community members and their families in their navigation of bereavement due to the sudden loss of a young child and or a young adult. 

Summertime events with Damali Beautiful Vision CIC.

VEWA Productions is Aisha’s vocal coaching, sound healing and guided meditation company offering online sessions for 1-1 and groups.

This episode is dedicated to Damali.

When Vicki’s daughter Fi was involved in a road traffic incident, her parents helped to enact her wish to become an organ donor.

Vicki talks about that process, and how she finds ‘active grief’ allows her to pursue a happy and fulfilling life without taking away from the sadness of losing Fi.

She also tells us about how Fi continues to drive some amazing things that are done in her name, mainly relating to FEES Fund. 

For more information about the Donor Family Care Service, click here.

You can find all about FEES FUND here

If you fancy trying open water swimming, Swim England will help you find a local venue.

Vicki has also written about her family and their wider losses and stories of survival, and you can find details on our website.

This episode is dedicated to Fi.

Smothered with kindness or have friends seemingly abandoned you? What is the right thing to do when a child dies?

We’re heading off down a different path in this episode, taking a look into research around the ‘should and shouldn’ts’ of grief behaviours in our society, and what that might mean to us specifically as bereaved parents.

Our guest is Dr Jennie Dayes, and as well as explaining her research she’s also taking us through how she came to produce some rather lovely continuing bonds resources.  

To read Jennie’s research about grief etiquette, click here.

To view the Continuing Bonds cards, click here.

This episode is dedicated to Betty.

Lynsey lost both of her beautiful children to Batten’s Disease, a rare and complex disease that is always fatal. In this episode, she speaks with grace and compassion about her family’s journey through these terrible losses, and how she is now able to help others facing similar challenges, as a peer befriender. 

To find out about the Batten’s Disease Family Association, click here.

To buy Poppy’s single, When You Were With Me, follow this link. To listen on YouTube, click here. 

This episode is dedicated to Ellie Mae and Caleb.

The Library for Bereaved Parents…meet Mary, who runs a fabulous library for The Compassionate Friends, an organisation working across the UK to support bereaved parents. Mary shares her own story of loss and explains how she chooses books for others. She also runs us through some of her favourite and most important book choices. God Is An Octopus, anybody?

To find out about The Compassionate Friends, click here.

To email Mary about borrowing books, contact her at library@tcf.org.uk

For more details about all the books mentioned in the programme, visit the Bereaved Parents’ Club website. 

This episode is dedicated to Claire.

Is child loss different for men? After losing his son to suicide in 2021, Dave Thompson opens up about his mental health journey, support groups, and his newfound love for Stockport County.  

To find out about Mentell, click here.

Healthy Minds was NHS driven mental health support and may be called something else where you live. NHS Mental Health Support can be found here.

To reach Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SoBS), click here.

Stockport County Community Trust information can be found here. 

GHT online: https://ghtonline.co.uk/pages/about-ght

This episode is dedicated to George.

Two days after the devastating loss of her 23-month-old son Reuben, Nic Graham decided to set up a charity giving families of children with complex needs or illnesses the holidays they needed to create the memories they deserved. Listen to Nic tell her story and how she’s built much more than she could ever have dreamed of.

To find out about Reuben’s Retreat, click here.

This episode is dedicated to Reuben.

You probably can’t believe you are searching for this podcast. Join us to find some reassurance, some gentle words of support, and to help you perhaps find some further sources of help and advice. 

Our guest is Michelle Meredith from the Child Death Helpline, and she and podcast host Debbie Enever will be guiding you through some aspects of this early period of loss and grief. 

To find out about the Child Death Helpline, click here. To contact them for support, call 0800 282 986.

To understand Edward’s Syndrome, click here.

For support relating to Edward’s Syndrome, click here.

 ‘Grief of the Newly Bereaved’ leaflet, produced by the Compassionate Friends.

The Justin Bieber song that Michelle mentioned is this one: ‘What Do You Mean?’

Cruse offers bereavement counselling.

This is the shoes poem.

For more details about any resources mentioned in the programme, visit the Bereaved Parents’ Club podcast website. 

This episode is dedicated to Alice.

It’s the club none of us want to be members of, but here we are.

My name is Debbie, and I’m a bereaved parent and your host. 

This podcast is for all of us, to share and celebrate the stories of our children, and offer support to each other. Each episode will explore topics that have relevance to us as we navigate the world as bereaved parents. Whether your loss was last week, last month, last year or even last century, you are welcome here. And whether your child was a baby, a youngster, a teenager, an adult, or even a parent themselves, you are welcome here. 

Please be aware that each episode will deal with themes of death and loss.