£13k grant to provide help for bereaved
A local charity has been awarded a grant to fund support groups providing bereavement help.
Dorothy House Hospice Care has been awarded £13,600 towards the funding of two new community bereavement support groups in Corsham and Shepton Mallet.
The grant for Friends in Grief (Fig) is funded by Wiltshire Freemasons through the Masonic Charitable Foundation and is managed by Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice and palliative care.
The foundation supports hospices nationwide and is funding fifteen initiatives to support bereaved families during 2019-20.
According to Hospice UK a total of 49,000 people in the UK received bereavement support from hospices in 2017-18.
A pilot Fig group was set up by Dorothy House in Malmesbury in July 2018. It is now well established at the Riverside Community Centre running 2pm-4pm every Tuesday.
Both Corsham and Shepton Mallet Fig groups will operate weekly and be free to anyone who has been bereaved. People can drop in to the Corsham group on Thursdays, 1.30pm-3.30pm, at the MOD Community Centre, Portal Avenue, Rudloe. The Shepton Mallet group meets every Wednesday, 10amnoon, at The Brasserie & Café Bar, High Street.
The grant will fund the recruiting, training and supervising of Fig volunteers, as well as supporting the operational and staff costs involved in setting up both groups.
Dorothy House’s Friends in Grief bereavement support initiative is based on the ‘Bereavement Help Point Model’ developed by St Giles Hospice in Lichfield.
Linda Owens, bereavement service co-ordinator at Dorothy House, said: “Friends in Grief groups are facilitated by trained, local volunteers and supported by Dorothy House.
“In a safe, supportive and informal setting, the groups welcome anyone who has been bereaved who would like to meet others experiencing similar thoughts and feelings around their grief.
“Fig not only offers a message of hope and reassurance but also recognises, within the uniqueness of grief, a commonality of experience.”
For more information or to apply to be a volunteer, visit www.dorothyhouse.org.uk.