St Oswald’s Hospice, the largest hospice in the North East, has joined forces with Everyturn Mental Health in Newcastle to deliver vital Bereavement Training to its staff.
The training session was designed to help Everyturn colleagues better understand grief and loss, and how to support bereaved people. Taking place in early February, it was led by St Oswald’s Hospice Bereavement Team, specialists in supporting people following the death of a loved one, friend or colleague.
Everyturn Mental Health, a charity that provides services for the NHS and local authorities, had an afternoon of training at The Anchorage, North Tyneside Safe Haven, from St Oswald’s Hospice Community Projects Lead Laura Barrett. Participants attended from Everyturn’s sites across the North East.
Jack Southern, Team Manager at The Anchorage, said:
“This partnership with St Oswald’s Hospice is a powerful example of how working together strengthens our practice. Grief and loss are experiences that touch both our team and the people we support, often in ways that aren’t immediately visible.
“Laura’s knowledge and experience have helped our team become grief and loss allies and in turn made us better equipped to support open, honest conversations with both colleagues and the people we support. She’s also helped us build the confidence, compassion, and understanding needed to have these conversations well.
“The session was delivered with great sensitivity and was hugely insightful.” added Jack.
Participants reported that the training would be helpful within their roles but also help them to understand their own grief and how to support friends and family experiencing bereavement.
St Oswald’s Hospice Bereavement Team has a long history of providing support across the region through individual, group sessions and remembrance events, and during Covid the much-loved organisation extended training to employers too.
Laura said: “Bereavement can be overwhelming; impacting our ability to function and our quality of life. It can trigger or contribute to mental health conditions including depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Bereavement has a detrimental impact on individuals – it affects how we feel about life, how we feel about ourselves and our sense of purpose, the future – because of this it deserves parity with physical health concerns.
“Our aim is to build skills and confidence within communities so that people feel prepared to support and signpost others when they experience bereavement” added Laura.
The training is suitable for all businesses, public sector organisations and charities and content can be tailored to an organisation’s needs or to specific teams. It can be short term or long term.
The St Oswald’s Hospice team is also pioneering greater understanding of bereavement across Primary Care and prisons in the North East, as well as offering group and one-to-one support for bereaved families at the hospice.
For more information and to book, visit www.stoswaldsuk.org or call 0191 285 0063.
