The ALMT has been running a Grief and Bereavement support service for five years provided by leading practitioner, Jenni Thomas OBE. To ensure this service continues to run and support families, the ALMT have approached Grief Encounter (GE) to become an ALMT partner to both direct Jenni to conduct visits and receive her referrals from families in need.

This broadens the ALMT’s ability to support as many families as possible while remaining confident that the level of support offered is of the highest standard. Through discussion of this partnership, GE highlighted the need to begin making the first contact with bereaved families and children featured in the press/media. At least, 5 cases of accidental death, murder, road traffic accidents or unexplained sudden deaths appear in the media every week. Research shows that following a trauma, pro-active support is necessary, or children are often left under the emotional rubble that death brings in its wake. The aim of this partnership is to reach out to families who are victims of the traumatic impact of a tragedy to increase accessibility to bereavement support.