Jeremiah’s Journey is a Plymouth-based charity that provides free support to children, young people and their parents/carers who have or are about to experience the death of someone special…
Jeremiah’s Journey is a Plymouth-based charity which started in 1996 that provides free support to children, young people and their parents/carers who have or are about to experience the death of someone special. Currently, they directly support over 700 grieving children each year, and there are circa 2000 wider beneficiaries from the work they do.
The demand on the charity has grown steadily over the last five years and now, nearly half of the children and families that they support are bereaved through sudden and often traumatic causes of death, like suicide and road traffic accidents.
Nearly a third of the children that they support, are bereaved through long term illnesses, such as cancer. Sadly, almost 50% of those in their care have lost or are facing the loss of a parent.
How the Charity supports Young people:
Just as the way that children and young people express their feelings about the death or terminal illness of a significant person is different and unique to them, so will their coping strategies.
It may be helpful to begin by asking the child or young person how they would like to be supported:
- What do they want or need? What works for them? Is talking helpful? Art? Music? Sport?
- If they need to talk or just sit with someone, who would they like that to be? Is it someone that they know and trust already? Is there a particular friend that they would like to sit with?
- How will they let that person know that they need some time with them? Are there certain times when that person is available? How do they flag up discreetly that they are feeling upset?
- Is there a safe space for the child or young person to go to when they need some quiet time? How will they let you know that they need some quiet time – will they have a ‘time out’ card or a bean bag in their ‘upset’ colour?
- Are there any special dates coming up such as an anniversary or birthday, Father’s or Mother’s day? What would they like to do on these days? Do they want to join in with the usual Father’s or Mother’s day activities?
Check out how things are today. Maybe it is different to how it felt yesterday.
It is ok for you to ask questions and if you are asked a question that you are unsure about it is ok to say that you don’t know the answer. If it is something specific, for example a medical question then you may be able to help find the answer. Remember, even as grown-ups we don’t have all the answers!
Photo: Reuben Ayres (Charity Steward Devonshire Freemasons, Tanya Woodland (CEO Jeremiah’s Journey), Nicholas Ball (Provincial Grand Master Designate Devonshire Freemasons), John Naismith (Supporter Engagement Officer Jeremiah’s Journey).
Nick Ball the new Provincial Grand Master of Devonshire’s Freemasons said:
“I’ve known about the great work and support offered by Jeremiah’s Journey for many years.
When I learnt of the scale of the challenges they face in supporting an ever larger number of Children we had to help in some way and a donation of £15,000 will, I hope provide some essential funding to continue their fantastic work”.
Tanya Woodland CEO of the Charity added:
“Jeremiah’s Journey provides free support to children, young people and their families who have or are about to experience the death of someone special. The charity directly supports approximately 720 grieving children each year with wider beneficiary numbers of circa 2,000. Their work focuses on grieving children and young people, aiming to help them through challenging and uncertain times, with the belief that no child should be alone in their grief.
The charity is overwhelmed by the grant from the Masonic Charitable Foundation and the Freemasons from the Province of Devonshire, this wonderful sum of £15,000 (over 3 years) is amazing! The grant will cover the cost of over 300 therapeutic hours for one of our highly trained bereavement team to invest in the local children who need our help”.
Bro Alec Collyer MBE
Provincial Press Officer