Immediate Help - Bereavement Support

Browse our curated collection of bereavement support articles which can provide immediate help. If you need to speak to someone urgently see our helplines or go to our online counsellor chat service.

Understanding and Supporting

Resources Listings

Bereavement and Loss - in the LGBTQ+ Community

Switchboard explores the unique challenges LGBTQ+ people may face in bereavement, including disenfranchised grief, family estrangement and exclusion from mourning rituals.

Facing Father's Day - when a Father Died

Has your father died? The loss of a father, whether recent or long ago, can make Father’s Day especially painful. We offer some thoughts for how you might take care of yourself around Father’s Day.

Surviving Easter - as a Widow

Easter, like Christmas, is one of those times of year that can hit especially hard when you’re grieving. There’s the build-up, the family traditions, the messages of hope and renewal…and yet, for many of us (especially widows), it just highlights what’s missing.

Mother’s Day - Grief When a Parent Died

Like with many other days in the calendar, Mother’s Day can be very hard when we are grieving and an occasion which can trigger pain even many years after a death. Here are some things to consider for coping when a parent died.

Coping with Grief on Valentine’s Day - The Death of a Partner

For a lot of people Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love, romance and togetherness. But if you’ve lost a partner, the day can bring a renewed sense of grief and loneliness. This article explores coping with grief on Valentine’s Day.

Dying for Beginners - The Dying Process

This video explains the dying process very gently so that we understand it better and can have conversations with friends and family about it.

Learning Disabilities - and Bereavement Support

This briefing is produced by Brake, the road safety charity. It aims to raise awareness of how people with learning disabilities experience grief, and provides advice on how to offer them bereavement support.

How to Cope with a - Tragedy & Complicated Grief

Every death brings its own trauma to survivors. However, when someone is suddenly killed in an accident or murdered, the stress levels rise considerably for those left behind and this can cause what is known as complicated grief.

Traumatic Grief & - Bereavement Support

Trauma refers to the way that some distressing events are so extreme or shocking that they overwhelm a person’s ability to cope, resulting in lasting negative impact. This article contains information to help you understand and respond to people with traumatic grief.

What Is Effective - Bereavement Support?

This article explores effective bereavement support, how we can learn to offer it, and what it looks like.

Five Tips for Supporting - a Grieving Young Person

Here are five tips for supporting young people who are bereaved.

Practical Help

Resources Listings

Searching for a Relative - Loss of a Loved One

Struggling with the loss of loved one and need to find family members? When a relative dies, it can uncover the need to find lost or unknown family members - whether for legal, financial, or personal reasons. We explain how.

Writing a Will or Handling One When Bereaved

You might have to deal with the Will, money and property of the person who's died if you're a close friend or relative, or the executor of the Will. If you are anticipating your death you may be considering writing a will. We’ll talk about both aspects of Wills.

What to Do When - Someone Dies Abroad

What to do when someone dies abroad: there are a whole set of considerations to take into account. However, there are people to help you and you should seek their advice if you find yourself in this situation.

Registering a Death - What to do When Someone Dies

Need to know what to do when someone dies regarding registering the death? The death certificate is the official record that their life has ended and is the formal government record of that fact. We’ll explain how to proceed.

Protecting Against Identity Fraud - What to do When Someone Dies

Wondering what to do when someone dies and has their identity stolen? This advice might help you to prevent it.

Government Advice - What to do When Someone Dies

Do you need to know what to do when someone dies? There’s a lot of Government advice to help and support you during this difficult time. This article explains more.

Cancelling Mail

This is our guide to cancelling mail. Receiving post for the person who has died can be very difficult. Depending on the type of mail, there are a variety of practical measures you can take to deal with the problem.

How to Easily Cancel Official Documents - What to do When Someone Dies

Do you need to cancel official documents? We’ll tell you what to do when someone dies. Using the Government's ‘Tell Us Once’ service will ensure all government departments are informed. This includes passports, driving licenses, pensions, benefits, national insurance, tax and blue badges.

Benefits - and Bereavement

If you have been affected by bereavement there may be Government benefits you are now eligible for, especially if you are a partner or child of the deceased. Depending on which of your loved ones has died your tax allowances, National Insurance and benefits may change.

Funeral Planning

Resources Listings

Funerals: Find an Independent - Funeral Director near You

Understand how The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (known as SAIF) can help.

Funerals: Everything a - Young Person Needs to Know

A useful film and book to help any young person understand funerals (burial and cremation) and decide whether to attend and what role they can play in saying goodbye to a loved one.

Funerals - How to Plan One

Our guide on how to plan a funeral. A funeral is an opportunity to create a special tribute to your loved one and whilst painful, can also be memorable and a positive experience.

Funeral Etiquette - in Different Faiths

If you are attending the funeral of someone of a different faith you can get advice here on, for example, what to expect, how to pay your respects, how to send condolences and what to wear to the funeral.

Self Care

Resources Listings

Experiencing Grief? - Move More for Your Mental Health

Experiencing Grief? Movement can ease emotional pain, reduce stress, restore routine and foster connection, offering comfort and healing for those navigating bereavement.

Physical Manifestation of Grief - Understanding How Grief Affects the Brain

This article explores the physical manifestation of grief. Grief not only impacts our emotions but also brings significant changes to the brain, affecting memory, stress levels, and overall well-being.

Losing a Loved One - Coping When Bereaved

AtaLoss Subject Matter Expert, Sabine Horner is a nutritionist. Here she writes about how deep breathing can help us deal with the storms of emotion when we're bereaved.

Top Tips to Keep Well Hydrated - The Physical Effects of Grief

One of the most common physical effects of grief is reduced appetite and a lack of interest in drinking enough fluids. Meanwhile we can often cry a lot which depletes our hydration levels further. Sabine explains why keeping hydrated in grief is important and how that can be achieved.

Bereavement Counselling - What You Need to Know

We provide some information here about what bereavement counselling is, what to expect and how to find a good counsellor that suits your needs. The information is helpfully provided by the Association of Christian Counsellors.

Preventing Drastic - Weight Loss in Grief

Sabine Horner explains why eating can become a major issue after losing a loved one and experiencing grief. In the early days, for biological reasons most people who are grieving simply do not feel hungry.

Magnesium: Managing Symptoms - When Struggling with Grief

When we are struggling with grief one often-overlooked factor in managing the symptoms we experience, is ensuring we are getting enough magnesium. Magnesium is an essential mineral that plays a pivotal role in over 300 biological processes within the human body.

Immediate Help - Bereavement Support

Understanding and Supporting

Practical Help

Funeral Planning

Self Care

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