Offering help to the bereaved

Rose Harland • Published 22 Jul 2010 08:00 0 Comments

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People needed to help the bereaved

A BEREAVEMENT counselling charity is hoping to start a drop-in session in Bracknell.

The Thames Valley Berkshire Area branch of Cruse Bereavement Care already provides free, confidential counselling appointments but it is looking at starting a drop-in session to encourage more people to access the service.

Sarah Wakeford, area co-ordinator, said: "It is something that obviously we would like to offer the residents of Bracknell in the future. It's still early days."

Ms Wakeford has been speaking to a church in Bracknell about the possibility of it hosting a drop-in from next year, if funding and more volunteer counsellors are available. The charity has started trialling a drop-in service in Reading.

The charity receives 3,000 phone calls a year from people asking for information and help, and it counsels 600 a year.

Figures released by it this week show that more than 70% of callers are female and many call following the death of a husband or partner (39%) or parent (29%).

Around 70% call after speaking to their GP or other healthcare professional. Most calls (35%) are made two to six months after the death of a loved one.

The highest reported cause of death is cancer (36%), followed by heart conditions (17%), then suicide (7%), although the number of people calling following a loved one's death in a road accident has increased.

Clients have on average six to 10 hour-long sessions with a counsellor.

Ms Wakeford said: "Our trained volunteers help people restore their mental and physical wellbeing, thus playing an important part in returning people back to work where appropriate. Some of our callers just need to be reassured that they are in a 'normal grief process' and they are not going 'mad'."

The charity runs some of its counselling sessions from the office it shares with Bracknell Forest Voluntary Action (BFVA) in Amber House in the town centre. Ms Wakeford said the two organisations' close working relationship means that Cruse is able to refer people to BFVA for help accessing other services that may help them.

Contact Cruse to ask about counselling or telephone support on 0844 736 0441. All branches of Cruse need to raise their own funds and the Thames Valley Berkshire branch needs £65,000 a year to keep going. To donate, contact 01344 411919 or crusetvberks@btconnect.com

This article appeared in Villager 22 Jul 10

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