Free support groups for people bereaved by suicide are being set up by Samaritans and Cruse Bereavement Care, starting in October.
Brighton, Hove and District Samaritans are teaming up with Cruse Bereavement Care in Brighton to provide a series of support groups – each with a maximum of eight participants and meeting under the title Facing the Future – to give people who have lost someone to suicide an opportunity to meet others who have had similar experiences.
Facing the Future groups are free of charge and available to anyone over 18. Each group session will last for 90 minutes and will run once a week over six consecutive weeks. The bereavement does not have to have been recent, although the service is designed for people bereaved for more than 3 months.
The groups will be jointly led by experienced Samaritans and Cruse volunteers who have received specialist training in helping those bereaved by suicide and will take place at a central Brighton location.
“If you’re interested in attending a group, register online at www.facingthefuturegroups.org It’s really straightforward and you are very welcome to attend even if you’re already receiving other forms of support” explains Daniel Cheesman, Director of Brighton, Hove and District Samaritans
“Within two working days you’ll get a call and receive all the information you require, including what to expect and when groups are expected to start so you can plan them around your other commitments” he says.
Delphine Barraclough, Chair of Cruse Bereavement Care in East Sussex, says: “We are extremely happy to be rolling out the service to our area. We know how isolating and difficult it can be to experience bereavement following suicide, and we hope that in delivering these groups we will be able to make a real difference in people’s lives”.
The idea that Cruse and Samaritans should share their expertise was developed in 2011 by Kensington and Chelsea Cruse and Central London Samaritans. After the success of their groups, the two charities decided to expand the service further.
In June 2014, Facing the Future was given three years of funding by the Department of Health to take place in six pilot areas around the UK.
If you are interested in joining a Facing the Future group, telephone: 0208 939 9560 or visit www.facingthefuturegroups.org for more information.
Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year. They provide a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.
Telephone: 08457 90 90 90 (UK), email: jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org/branches to find details of the nearest branch.
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