History of the Week
Children’s Grief Awareness Week was initiated by Grief Encounter and the Childhood Bereavement Network in 2015, as a way to recognise and raise awareness of the bereavement experiences of children and young people.
Aligned with International Children’s Grief Awareness Day, which is always the Thursday before Thanksgiving in the United States, Children’s Grief Awareness Week is a chance for the United Kingdom to be more mindful and aware of the impact bereavement can have on children and young people.
Previous years
Previous years have focused on the need to hear from bereaved children and young people, with ways of sharing their bereavement experiences.
- 2019 focused on being ‘Lost for Words’
- 2020 took this idea and highlighted the impact of the pandemic on children and young people, using the theme ‘Say the Words’
- 2021 followed on the theme, but asked children what they would say about their experiences of being supported by services with the Childhood Bereavement Network creating word clouds from their thoughts.
- 2022 has offered bereaved children and young people the chance to visually express what helped them – or continues to help them – through their bereavement through the creation of Sharing Shapes.