We need a wide variety of experiences to help build a culture of compassion and support for bereaved children. If you are thinking about joining the bereavement sector, have a look at our resources and suggestions.
People working with bereaved children and their families - in paid roles or as volunteers - come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Professional backgrounds include nursing, teaching, social work, counselling, psychotherapy and youth work.
You might be doing one of these roles already, but feel the need for more training and skills development in supporting those who have been bereaved. You might want to move into a role where you specialise in child bereavement. You might have personal experience of bereavement, which you now feel ready to put to use to benefit others. All these roles are necessary to build a culture of compassion and support for bereaved children across the UK.
What does support for bereaved children involve?
Read some examples of the work going on across the Childhood Bereavement Network, which will help you understand more about the type of work that specialist services do, and what sort of role you might be interested in.
How can I get started?
A good way to get involved is to contact your local child bereavement service to find out what volunteer opportunities they have. They are likely to need fundraising and administrative help as well as roles working directly with children and young people. They may recruit volunteers for direct work at particular times of year, or once every few years.
What training do I need?
It's hard to say exactly what training you will need, as this will depend on your background and professional and volunteer experience to date. It will also vary by whether want to increase your skills in supporting bereaved children as part of your 'day' job, such as a teacher or CAMHS worker; or whether you are seeking to develop a specialism in this area.
Browse our training calendar for examples of the training on offer locally and nationally, which includes
- awareness raising and skills development for people working with bereaved children as part of their day-to-day roles, such as teaching or CAMHS work
- specialist modules for people applying to volunteer or work directly with bereaved children and young people as part of a specialist local child bereavement service.