Tag: online

Free online support for National Bereaved Parents Month

Posted on by ashleymarsh

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.

Online tributes provide essential place to remember loved ones during 2020

Posted on by ashleymarsh

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.

 

£170,000 donated in memory of loved ones

Posted on by ashleymarsh

In the last year, more than 4,200 people have donated money to charity in memory of a loved one via Southern Co-op’s free online memorial feature.

Just under 200 charities have benefited from the contributions as loved ones have asked friends and family to make donations to charities rather than flowers at funerals.

The donations have all been made via Southern Co-op’s memorial webpage, run in partnership with MuchLoved, which launched two years ago in September 2016.

As well as an online donation, the online memorial feature allows friends and family to set up a personal tribute page to light virtual candles, share memories, stories, photos and videos of loved ones.

Steve Pearce, Southern Co-op’s Chief Operating Officer for End of Life Services, said: “Since we launched our online tribute service, we have been blown away by the generosity of those remembering their loved ones. A lot of the chosen charities have meant a great deal to the person who has passed away – such as a hospice or a support service.

“It is really special to see so many local charities being chosen to receive donations in memory of a loved one. We find the tribute pages a really helpful and long-lasting way to help remember someone special.”

In the last year, the average donation made in memory of a loved one has been as much as £40 per donation.

The three charities which had the most donations received more than £10,000 each. These were Cancer Research UK, Phyllis Tuckwell – which cares for terminally ill people and their families throughout West Surrey and part of North East Hampshire, and Rowans Hospice – which offers specialist palliative care to those with life-limiting illnesses in South East Hampshire.

Click here for more information about online tributes.