Ireland Based Resources
Anam Cara Parent Bereavement understands we don’t live in an ideal world, we live in a world after our precious children have died before their time. Bereaved parents have set up this organisation to help themselves and all bereaved parents cope with their grief and loss and journey on.
Rainbows is a free, voluntary service for children and young people experiencing loss following bereavement and parental separation. The Rainbows service is an inclusive service, supporting children and young people experiencing grief and loss resulting from bereavement/parental separation/parental relationship breakdown /divorce.
Jigsaw Dublin City is a free, non-judgemental, and confidential support service for young people aged 12 – 25 living, working, or studying in Dublin City. They provide guidance and support for young people who are going through a difficult or distressing time.
FirstLight offers free professional support and provides information to families in Ireland that have experienced the sudden, unexpected death of their child if aged from 0 to 18 years. FirstLight is a trauma-informed organisation, offering a National 24-hour Helpline service, Crisis Intervention and a Psychotherapy service.
A Little Lifetime Foundation (formerly Isands) was established in 1983 by a group of bereaved parents. We are an Irish registered charity, providing supports and services to parents whose baby has died around the time of birth or shortly afterwards and parents who receive a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality in pregnancy.
Feileacain was formed by a group of bereaved parents to offer support to anyone affected by the death of a baby around the time of birth, and the organisation is now the national charity supporting families affected by perinatal loss. Feileacain is a volunteer led organisation and receives no funding from central government, relying instead on the support of our community and the families who avail of our services.
HopeSpace provide free one-to-one listening service for grieving children (aged 4-17 years), in a confidential, warm, caring and supportive environment in our Centre in Galway City. A trained volunteer helps children address their emotions around grief, helping them to understand that grief is a normal reaction to loss and all their emotions are normal.
UK Based Resources
Childhood Bereavement Network UK
Tips from bereaved pupils about how teachers can help. Also discusses the policy context for addressing bereavement in schools.
Video ‘What Teachers need to know from bereaved students.’
Department of Education and Skills
DES guidelines to help schools respond to critical incidents, including bereavement, in the school setting.
Enables teachers to introduce the concept of death to young people, with downloadable activity packs to follow.
Links to resources for schools and outlines a basic bereavement strategy.
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Online resources from the Office of the Minister for Youth Affairs, listing research and information on children. Contains links to research publications, databases and key policy documents.
Information pack on supporting bereaved pupils in school, and on supporting bereaved pupils with special needs in school.
The Guardian Teacher’s Network
A selection of resources compiled by the Guardian newspaper about bereavement in the classroom.
UK-based charity with a range of information and packs to download to help schools to support a child who is bereaved.