Bereavement support for military families

Remembering mum this Mother’s Day – guidance from Winston’s Wish

Winston’s Wish, the leading childhood bereavement charity in the UK, is providing guidance for those who are remembering a loved one this Mother’s Day, Sunday 26th March.

The charity recognises that this special day is not always a joyful and celebratory time for everyone. Every 22 minutes a child in Britain is bereaved of a parent; this means that on Mother’s Day many children will be remembering mum rather than celebrating with them.

Days such as Mother’s Day can evoke more memories and feelings than usual. Some people like to mark occasions like Sunday by creating activities to remember and celebrate the person who died.

Winston’s Wish provides suggestions below of ways to remember mums this Mother’s Day:

  • You could buy a special candle and light it on Mother’s Day and other special days that remind you of her.
  • How about making a Mother’s Day card and displaying it somewhere special?
  • It might be important to take a card or a special message to her grave, or to where her ashes were buried or scattered.
  • You could mark the day by doing something special e.g. tying a special message to a helium balloon and watch it soar into the sky.
  • Plant some bulbs or a shrub in a place that holds special memories of your mum.
  • Eat her favourite meal – Risotto? Roast dinner? Curry?
  • Listen to her favourite music, or music that reminds you of her.
  • Ask your nan or granddad for their memories of mum as a little girl, and/or your dad for his memories of when he and mum met.
  • Write her a letter or a poem; maybe you could start with something like ‘I have one thing I’d like to tell you…’
  • On Mother’s Day itself, remember to look after yourself. If things become a bit too much, you could always find a way to take a breather. Give yourself permission to not be OK and, equally, to have fun and smile.

Susie Phillips, Clinical Services Development Team Leader, added:

“When a child’s mother dies, it is likely to be one of the greatest losses that they will experience. What children tend to notice initially are the everyday changes; mum not being there in the morning, not being able to ask mum for help or other people not knowing what they like they like for tea. Later on it will be important dates or times in their lives, like Mother’s Day this weekend; birthdays, Christmas, when they leave home and get their first job. Grief of a parent is carried with you forever but at Winston’s Wish, we support families to find ways to remember their mothers and feel connected to them at times when they might be missing them most. There are many different ways to remember a mother – from cooking her favourite meal to keeping some special perfume”.

Each year, Winston’s Wish supports over 30,000 bereaved children and young people through an array of dedicated services. These in-depth support programmes include support following death as a result of accident, illness, homicide, suicide and also through military service.

@winstonswish will be tweeting Mother’s Day messages and support on Sunday with the hashtag #rememberingmum.

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