When just one minute is priceless
I WAS on holiday when the marvellous charity Child Bereavement UK launched its new awareness and fundraising campaign. I’ve only just caught up and so I’m sitting writing this in tears.
Please don’t let that put you off. For the tears which open hearts and minds to the human condition must be shed as often as possible in order that we may grow. The campaign, One More Minute, consists of a series of short films designed to encourage people to start talking about bereavement. The films are as uplifting as they are moving.
Contributors include children, young people and families supported by Child Bereavement UK, as well as bereaved celebrity friends of the charity, including Mary Berry and the actor Jason Watkins, whose two-year-old daughter Maude died in 2011.
Rio Ferdinand, bringing up three children on his own after losing his wife to cancer, is there: he visited Child Bereavement UK as part of his BBC documentary Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum And Dad. Ben and Marina Fogle reflect on their stillborn baby, while Prince William also provides a message in one of the films.
This is a subject many people find too unbearable to contemplate, but every year child bereavement is experienced by thousands of families in the UK.
To find out more look at the charity’s website (childbereave
mentuk.org), where you’ll find a link to the powerful testimonies.
I hope you might perhaps feel moved to support the charity — and here I must also mention the Child Death Helpline (which I helped launch nationally in 1995) for instant telephone support by trained bereaved parents: call 0800 282 986 or 0808 800 6019 if using a mobile.
I’m passionate about people understanding bereavement, so that they can be more helpful to those who endure pain and loss. And it occurs to me that the One More Minute campaign can have resonance in all our lives.
For if you are bogged down in a quarrel, just imagine the loss of the person who is annoying or upsetting you — and take that precious minute to make things better.
Bel answers readers’ questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, london W8 5TT, or email bel. mooney@dailymail.co.uk. A pseudonym will be used if you wish. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence.