The Hospice’s Counselling and Support service has, for many years, been improving outcomes for bereaved children and their families, community wide.

Whilst not every bereaved child needs bereavement counselling, every child grieves and needs to be supported through their grief by the adults involved in their life. Working alongside teaching professionals over many years we heard similar views being expressed – that staff within schools would welcome some training/guidance in supporting a bereaved child and having fears of saying or doing the wrong thing.

A few years ago, we heard about a local man called Ian Richardson who, following the tragic death of his wife Jo and one of their young daughters, Mya in August 2010, had been tirelessly fundraising for the Jo & Mya Memorial Trust. Part of these funds were to be used to help bereaved children and their families. We had the pleasure of meeting Ian and realised that we shared the same vision; following the meeting the Jo & Mya Education Project was launched in November 2015.

The Jo & Mya Education Project, has now expanded its initial remit and can provide training and education to any professional who works with children and young people on how best to support a child experiencing grief and loss.

Our 15 hour course entitled “An Introduction to Supporting Children Experiencing Grief and Loss” and covers such topics as How Children Grieve, The Role Attachment Plays in this Process, Special Educational Needs, Cultural Differences in Loss and Grief and much more.

We also deliver bespoke short courses to meet organisational/agency/school needs and we pride ourselves on providing a supportive relaxed atmosphere to explore what can often be a sensitive and complex topic.