Devonshire Freemasons donate £15,000 to Bideford based ‘Families in Grief’.

Devon’s Freemasons and the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) are very pleased to award Bideford based ‘Families in Grief’ (FiG) a grant of £15,000, this is split over three years to provide a guaranteed income in support of the work they do.

They are a childhood bereavement charity helping families to rebuild their lives after the death of someone close to them. They believe that they can have a greater impact on a bereaved child, if we support the parents/carers around the child too.

Many areas of North Devon contend with low salaries and high levels of unemployment. According to Devon County Council figures, at least one in five children live in income deprived families in Barnstaple and Ilfracombe. They offer this crucial bereavement support completely free to ensure that families regardless of social-economic circumstances can get the help they need.

From the point of contact, they work together with the main carer to plan the appropriate pathway of support for their child and family. With the parent’s permission they can also contact the child’s school to offer strategies and tools to help to help the child in the classroom.

Tailoring support to the child and their situation, coming up with strategies to help get them into school, or sending a list of appropriate books to help the child, or an information sheet on for example, ‘Sleeping Tips for Teens’. This addresses their individual needs. Offering group support to reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness. FiG have seen how difficult it is for children and young people to talk about their feelings, so at their groups they encourage expression through creative and physical activities. Sitting side by side rather than face to face to encourage conversation. They support the parents/carers of the children too. They have their own group which runs at the same time.

Ages of those helped range from around 5 years olds to early 20s, at any one time around 80 families are supported over a six week period, but there's no “fixed” end of support time. The team of around 20 volunteers often come from childcare backgrounds.

Timothy Golder (Asst Leader of Devonshire Freemasons) said: “Bereavement is difficult at any stage of life but especially for children and young people.FiG is providing long-term support for those who have suffered loss,perhaps of parents and siblings,and who might be experiencing a range of emotional and physical difficulties.Guardians and carers can often be overlooked but FiG also offers help to those with responsibility for those affected. We hope that our donation will provide much needed support to FiG to continue their outstanding work.”

Naomi Jefferies (CEO Families in Grief) said: “The donation of £5,000 for three years from the Freemasons will make a huge difference to us. It allows us to be more dynamic in our initiatives, it allows us not to worry so much about the costs of phone calls, coffee at family meetings etc. Some other funding can be more restrictive to us. We’re very grateful.”