Tag: care

Ryde funeralcare offers residents free bereavement support

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Residents in Ryde, who have experienced grief, are being encouraged to drop in to a local monthly bereavement support wellbeing group.

The free group is led by an experienced bereavement co-ordinator from Bereavement Care – a support service offered by the Island’s The Co-operative Funeralcare branches, including Ryde.

Anyone who has experienced loss is invited to join, regardless of whether they have used services offered by the branches which are part of the regional independent co-operative, Southern Co-op.

Alex Morley​, who looks after the Isle of Wight branches of The Co-operative Funeralcare, said: “Loss and grief affects us all at one time or another. We know how important support is to help us through this – whether that is soon after a loved one passes or years down the line.

“It was more than 20 years ago the Southern Co-op first introduced free bereavement support so it is really special that we can still offer it to people today.”

The next free bereavement wellbeing support group in Ryde takes place on Friday 13 October at Elim Church, 48 Albert Street, Ryde, PO33 2SB, from 10am to 12pm. They usually take place on the 2nd Friday of every month.

Lesley Hadley, Bereavement Coordinator at Bereavement Care, said: “The drop-in well-being support group offers a relaxed and non-judgmental environment where participants can openly express their feelings, share their stories, and find comfort through mutual support.

“It is a place where individuals can meet others who truly understand what they are going through, fostering a sense of community during a difficult time.”

To find out more or to explore other bereavement support available, visit https://bereavementcare.uk/.

Drop-in sessions to support those affected by suicide

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Our local bereavement support team is hosting free virtual drop-in sessions to provide a safe space for individuals impacted by suicide.

With World Suicide Prevention Day being marked on Sunday, Bereavement Care is hosting two sessions on Monday 11 September at 12pm and 6pm, each lasting one hour.

Bereavement Care team can provide free ongoing support for anyone who has experienced loss, regardless of whether they have used services offered by Southern Co-op and its Co-operative Funeralcare branches.

To read more, visit https://bereavementcare.uk/virtual-drop-in-sessions-to-support-those-affected-by-suicide/

Tree blessing and fundraising in Fareham

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Celebrants, colleagues, clients and friends gathered in Fareham last week for an open day at The Co-operative Funeralcare branch in Trinity Street.

The branch was filled with festive scents with mulled wine and homemade festive treats including gingerbread biscuits, sausage and cranberry sausage rolls and an abundance of mince pies.

A raffle was held for The Rainbow Centre which supports children and adults affected by neurological conditions. The total amount raised from the raffle was £172.

Rev Sean Blackman also attended and blessed the branch’s tree, which is adorned with twinkling stars.

Free online support for National Bereaved Parents Month

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Two online support groups are being held in July – National Bereaved Parents Month – to give extra help to those affected by the loss of a child.

Being held by Bereavement Care, in association with Southern Co-op and its local funeralcare branches, the support groups are for anyone who has experienced the loss of a child, regardless of age or circumstance.

National Bereaved Parents Day was set up in 2020 by the charity A Child of Mine as it wanted to bring together anyone affected by the loss of a child to show them that they are not alone.

As well as the support groups, Southern Co-op will be donating £1,000 to the charity to make sure bereaved parents and families get access to invaluable emotional and practical support.

Ali Davison, Bereavement Coordinator at Bereavement Care, said: “Our team works with people everyday to help them through some of the darkest days of their lives. So we know how incredibly important it is to have a safe, confidential environment, with others that may understand what they are going through, coupled with the support from our Bereavement Coordinators.

“We are mindful that the awareness month is likely to evoke a lot of emotions and we want to make sure we have resource in place to support these parents.”

The free Bereavement Care service is offered by Southern Co-op to everyone in its local communities – regardless of whether they have used its services. To find your nearest Southern Co-op funeral branch, visit www.funeralcare.co.uk/our-funeral-directors/location-map/.

The free service is designed to help and support people struggling to deal with bereavement.

The two online support groups will take place on Wednesday 13 July from 3pm to 4pm and Wednesday 20 July from 10am to 11am.

Links can be found via Bereavement Care’s Facebook page or by emailing info@bereavementcare.uk.

For more information on Bereavement Care and the help available, visit https://bereavementcare.uk/ or call 08081 691922.

Co-operative community and care services expand to High Wycombe

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A free bereavement care service is now available in High Wycombe after one of the town’s funeral branches became part of an independent, regional co-operative.

The Bereavement Care service is offered by Southern Co-op to everyone in its local communities – regardless of whether they have used its services.

The free service is designed to help and support people struggling to deal with bereavement.

Since The Co-operative Funeralcare in Dashwood Avenue became part of Southern Co-op, the branch has also been fully refurbished.

Cared for by Funeral Co-ordinator Joanne Hoskins, the branch is now complete with a welcoming entrance area, a peaceful arrangement room and a calming reflection room.

Steve Pearce, Southern Co-op’s Chief Operating Officer for End of Life Services, said: “Since we welcomed the High Wycombe branch and colleagues into our family, we have been privileged to experience the high level of care which they offer local families and loved ones.

“It’s therefore a pleasure to be able to expand this personalised support and care through our Bereavement Care service as well as our community programme which is a mix of colleague volunteering, goods donations and funding possibilities.”

Via its Love Your Neighbourhood programme, Southern Co-op is committed to building a culture of neighbourliness, inspiring colleagues, members and customers to be community minded every day.

As well as colleague volunteering and goods donations, local causes can currently apply for funding of up to £500. The local funding is available for local causes which are working to create greener, healthier, safer and more inclusive neighbourhoods.

Funeral Co-ordinator Joanne, who lives locally in a small village just outside High Wycombe, said: “Having previously worked at the Beaconsfield branch before moving to High Wycombe in 2020, I recognise how important it is ensure someone’s final journey is personal and one to remember. It is all about the families we serve.

“As a 54-year-old mum of four and a loving nanny to my two wonderful grandchildren, I take great pride in my work and looking after my families is such a privilege.

“I treat their family member how I would expect my loved ones to be treated with respect, love and compassion.”

To find out more about Bereavement Care, visit www.bereavementcare.uk.

Purbrook mum is on a mission to help local families in need

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After collecting stacks of donated uniforms to help struggling families, a Widley funeral co-ordinator is now turning her hand to food donations.

Linda Docherty has been working at Southern Co-op for over two years and recently moved to its branch of The Co-operative Funeralcare in Widley.

She had barely got her feet under the table before she started encouraging local groups to apply for funding available which led to Purbrook Mother and Toddler Group receiving a £500 donation.

In a thank you letter to Linda, the group said it will help towards rent, insurance, equipment and snack costs and enable them to keep running the group for local families for many months to come.

But Linda wasn’t content and soon paired up with Care and Share Waterlooville – a drop off/pick up point in Waterlooville for essential items that people struggle to afford in difficult times.

Rachel and Jamie from Care and Share Waterlooville said: “Thanks to Linda at the Widley branch of The Co-operative Funeralcare, she helped us at a time when we were super busy with our normal workload of help bank requests by becoming a drop off point for used and new school uniforms.

“The uniform items kindly delivered to us by Linda have been made available for families with children struggling, not just to afford the items, but also to find them with shops and local outlets running out of many items during the post COVID-19/Brexit driver shortage.”

Linda has now turned her attention to food and has set up a donation point in the branch in London Road to make it easy for people to drop off in the local area.

Linda, 54, said: “What an absolute achievement the uniform donations have been. People actually went out and bought uniforms to donate them.

“Being Purbrook born and bred, I want nothing more than to help those less fortunate than myself. I have been less fortunate than others as a single mum of three – now with two grandchildren.

“When you’ve been there and been in that situation then you know what it’s like not to have enough money for uniform or not enough food in the cupboards.

“Working for Southern Co-op has given me more of an opportunity and it’s the icing on the cake that the co-operative like you to help your community. People are always behind me whatever I have come up with which is amazing and I hope it is bringing some life back into Widley.”

Care and Share Waterlooville is currently looking for donations of tinned beans and sausages, hot dog sausages, coffee, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, washing up liquid, bleach and scouring pads. All donations are gratefully received.

To get in touch with Care and Share Waterlooville regarding support, email careandsharewaterlooville@outlook.com or via its Facebook page www.facebook.com/Care-and-Share-Waterlooville-107127284558223.

Or for more information on funding from Southern Co-op’s Love Your Neighbourhood programme, visit www.thesouthernco-operative.co.uk/love-your-neighbourhood/.

Online tributes provide essential place to remember loved ones during 2020

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With fewer people able to attend funerals in person in 2020, more donations than ever were made online in memory of loved ones, according to figures from a regional co-operative.

A total of £450,766 was donated in 2020 via the free online tribute pages offered by Southern Co-op, which helps support grieving families in Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Surrey, Sussex, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Despite only a slight rise in the actual number of funerals arranged, this was an increase of over 35% in online funeral donations when compared to the previous year.

The independent co-operative, which operates branches of The Co-operative Funeralcare and Caring Lady Funeral Directors, believes the increase is down to more awareness of charities needing extra support as well as fewer people being able to attend funerals in person.

Steve Pearce, Chief Operating Officer for funeral services at Southern Co-op, said: “Just under 300 charities received donations through our online memorial tributes. The majority of these will have been hit hard by the pandemic so the support is likely to be invaluable.

“Sadly, a lot of the families we supported last year were also affected by the pandemic. It‘s difficult to describe the effect it has had on so many but our funeral co-ordinators have done everything they can to lighten people’s burdens and our bereavement care colleagues have been on hand to offer free counselling which has been vital.

“The fact that people are continuing to think of others, despite their own grief, is remarkable and shows the strength we have as communities working together in times of need.”

There were a total of 11,211 individual donations made in 2020 – an increase from 7,455 in 2019.

People made an average of £40 per donation via the online memorial feature which also allows friends and family to set up a personal tribute page, to light virtual candles, share memories, stories, photos and videos of loved ones.

The top three charities to which people donated the most were Cancer Research UK, Rowans Hospice in Hampshire, and Alzheimer’s Society.

Other local charities in the top ten were Phyllis Tuckwell hospice care in Surrey and Hampshire, which received £23,774 of donations; St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Chichester which received £12,909 of donations; and Mountbatten, end of life support on the Isle of Wight, which received donations of £7,812.

Jonathan Davies, Chief Executive of MuchLoved, the bereavement charity that provides the online tribute platform, said: “2020 was an incredibly difficult year for everyone, not least those bereaved and the funeral industry working tirelessly to care for them.

“We are delighted that Southern Co-op branches were able to use the MuchLoved platform to help those families, and that so much has been raised for such worthy causes.

“Since the start of our partnership together, over £1 million has been raised for charitable causes, which is an incredible milestone to have achieved. We look forward to working together to continue this success in the future.

“Our charity was founded to support bereaved people and help them cope with their grief, and working with Southern Co-op means we can offer this support and care to more people at the most difficult of times.”

For more information about online tributes, visit www.funeralcare.co.uk/tributes-and-donations.

 

Remembrance Day display in Cowplain

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Thanks to the creativity of local school children, artwork is on display in a funeral branch’s window to recognise the importance of Remembrance Day.

More than 60 children aged nine and ten helped to draw, colour and craft artwork for the window at The Co-operative Funeralcare – Cowplain.

Funeral Co-ordinators, Jackie Duthie and Lesley Alison, contacted St Peter’s Primary School, in Waterlooville, in the hope they would be able to add some meaning to their window for this year’s Remembrance Day.

Arts Teacher Nina Pearson was more than happy to get involved and each child in Year Five received an invitation stating they had been commissioned to do a piece of artwork.

Each piece of artwork includes a red poppy and was influenced by the poem In Flanders Fields by John McCrae.

Nina said: “It’s important to talk about this commemorative event and our history, otherwise we just get caught up in the current moment. This makes you think about the sacrifices which were made.

“We might think we have a few liberties being taken away from us right now but look at the sacrifices that were made 100 years ago.”

The artwork is currently on display in London Road at the funeralcare branch which is part of Southern Co-op – the regional, independent co-operative.

Oil and chalk pastels, pens and colouring pencils were all used in the creation of the display alongside coloured cellophane.

Funeral Co-ordinator Lesley said: “Doing the Remembrance window display is very important to us and we thought it would be lovely for one of our local schools to help us.

“We would like to thank each and every child who took part. They have helped to strengthen the importance of Remembrance Day and we have been really impressed with everything they have created.”

Funeral Co-ordinator Jackie said: “We need to keep the younger generation involved as it is very important for them to remember our past, present and future military personnel and what they have sacrificed for us and what they will sacrifice for us in the future. This should never be forgotten and we should always remember them with great pride.”

Southern Co-op’s colleagues will be marking the important day with a minute’s silence including at its local retail stores.

My Sisters’ House Women’s Centre supported with essential donations

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A funeral co-ordinator in Rose Green is looking forward to making the first delivery of donated goods after she helped set up collection boxes in three locations earlier this year.

Shirley Heaton at The Co-operative Funeralcare in Nyetimber Lane initially approached the Bognor Regis charity My Sisters’ House and had a meeting with the CEO as it was a cause that touched her and her colleagues’ hearts.

The other Southern Co-op branches in Felpham and North Bersted also agreed to back the cause and were pleased to support the charity with a £400 donation via the Neighbourly Community Fund.

Southern Co-op – a regional, independent co-operative – donated £40,000 to the Neighbourly fund which was set up to support the causes and individuals most affected by the pandemic.

Shirley, who lives in the area, said: “I was given a tour of their offices and told about some of the services they offer to women. I was blown away with the support they offer to women in need of their help.

“When women finally take the step to move on from a relationship which has involved domestic abuse, they often have nothing. So one of the first things we wanted to help with was having collection boxes in our branches.

“Simple things like shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, socks and pants are all things we take for granted but, when you don’t have these, life is especially hard. My Sisters’ House gives out these items in the form of packs to help these women.”

My Sisters’ House is a women’s centre in Bognor Regis which provides advice, practical support and guidance to women who are suffering domestic abuse, poverty and mental health issues.

Julie Budge, CEO and Founder of My Sisters’ House Women’s Centre, said: “COVID-19 has resulted in many more families and individuals living in poverty where the choice is to buy food instead of basic toiletries. Coming up to Christmas this will be crucial as we will give out so many more packs.

“We are grateful for the donations being made as some of the things we are currently in need of are shampoo, deodorant, talcum powder, body wash, toothpaste, tooth brushes, flannels, towels, new underwear and hairbrushes.”

The charity celebrated International Women’s Day ahead of lockdown on Friday 6 March which the branches donated items for the tombola stall and volunteered at the event including baking cakes for refreshments.

Shirley said: “It’s been a taxing time for us all but we want to let people know that the donation boxes are still open for people to drop off goods to us for My Sisters’ House.

“Due to lockdown, we’ve only just been able to get enough together to make the donation which we’re looking forward to dropping off to the centre very soon. A big thank you to everyone who has helped with this.”

Colleagues at Southern Co-op’s free bereavement support service, Bereavement Care, have also offered their help in assisting with counselling and training in bereavement workshops.

To find out more about making a donation, contact The Co-operative Funeralcare – Rose Green on 01243 268681 or RoseGreenFuneral@southerncoops.co.uk.

Organisations based near Southern Co-op’s stores or funeral homes can apply for grants using their new or existing Neighbourly profiles via www.neighbourly.com/goodcause/ and using the referral code SouthernCoopPartner.

Funeral co-ordinator named as colleague of the year

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Tom Parfitt at Colliers Court

A funeralcare co-ordinator, who has brought colour to the lives of residents in Frome and Southwick, has been awarded for his ‘massive impact on his local community’.

Selected out of nearly 300 colleagues working in funeralcare at Southern Co-op – the regional, independent co-operative, Tom Parfitt has been named as Funeralcare Colleague of the Year.

Working at The Co-operative Funeralcare in Frome Tom Parfitt was selected for his hard work and dedication to the community after volunteering his time transforming lifeless items with colourful murals.

Last year, Tom adorned a bus at Hope Nature Centre in Southwick with animals of all shapes and sizes which is being used at the centre as part of its work to train people with learning disabilities in animal care and catering skills.

Hope Nature Centre

He also helped a Frome day care service with his creative flair at Colliers Court where services are run by Discovery for adults with learning disabilities and autism. The focus of the upcycle project was to make the garden area a brighter and more pleasant area for the facility users to engage in garden activities.

Tom, who has worked at Southern Co-op for four years after leaving the armed forces, said: “In a nutshell I was gobsmacked when I heard. My manager had just completed my COVID-19 secure audit and then she went super serious saying she had something to tell me. Honestly I was worried.

“When she explained why I had been put forward I was humbled. I love the job that we do and all the team that surround and support me. Plus it’s an added bonus to be able to donate my hobby in the way of art to as many people as I can. I just wanted to say thank you for the award it was a shock and it will be cherished.”

Jennifer Walter, Sector Operations Manager for the region, said: “Tom has been invaluable to the team and me with his unwavering positive attitude, complete flexibility and dedication to the families he is supporting in branch.

“On top of all that he has done with the branch and the funeral team, Tom has made a massive impact on his local community. It has also escalated to Tom supporting other branches with artwork community projects and requests coming in thick and fast locally for his help.

“I cannot speak highly enough about the efforts, enthusiasm and dedication Tom has shown over the last 12 months. He is an invaluable member of my team.”

The praise didn’t end there as Tom’s Sector Operation Support, Helen Jephcott, said: “I’m so pleased for him, he really does deserve it! He is loved by all the families he works with as he is so passionate and knowledgeable about his role and making his families feel 100% at ease.”

Tom’s work in the community is part of the organisation’s larger community engagement programme ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ which addresses four key social themes – promoting greener, healthier, safer, and more inclusive neighbourhoods.

To find out more about Southern Co-op’s community programme or to view the latest vacancies, visit www.southernco-op.co.uk.