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Information and advice on supporting a bereaved child

Supporting a bereaved child can be tough. We provide information and guidance about our bereavement service, support for grief and loss.

Bereavement support and advice header, featuring a Asian woman holding wearing a head scarf and holding her young child
Home » Get Support » Information and advice on supporting a bereaved child

Bereavement support service for grief and loss in children and young people

Our expert team at Winston’s Wish offer a bereavement service by way of advice, guidance and bereavement support to children, young people, and families before and after the death of a parent, sibling or other important person. Below you will find guidance on topics including, support for grief and loss, talking to children about death, attending a funeral and coping with anniversaries. Also, we share our suggested reading list and activities to download, plus specialist advice for deaths by suicide, homicide and serious illness and advice on supporting children with SEND after a bereavement.

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Support before a person dies written on a coral background
Talking about death and grief written on a coral background
Ways to help them remember written on a coral background
Ways to support them written on a coral background
Support at school written on a coral background
SEND Support (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) written on a coral background
Support after sudden, traumatic and accidental deaths written on a coral background
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Support before a person dies

Mum and two young children sat on a bench looking at countryside - bereavement support services from Winston's Wish
What is death or bereavement?
How to prepare children for the death of someone important: image with a Asian woman holding the hand of a small child as they walk down a path shielded by trees
How to prepare children for the death of someone important
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How to tell children and young people someone is seriously ill
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Should I tell my children their loved one is dying?
How to prepare a child for the death of a parent by cancer. Mum and daughter sat together on sofa reading from a booklet
How to prepare children for the death of a parent by cancer
Child opening a greeting card
How to write a sympathy card to a child or young person

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Talking about death

Telling a child someone has died: Header image featuring a young child looking to parent who is talking to them.
Telling a child someone has died
Photo of a young girl looking out of a window
How to talk to children about death
Small girl sat on the floor looking sad while her mum strokes her hair
How to support a child with funerals and crematoriums
Young Asian child looking at parent.
Explaining death in service to children and young people
Are my children too young to know how their parent or sibling died: small boy with blonde hair looking out of the window
Are my children too young to know how their parent or sibling died?
Flowers and candles laid as tribute to a celebrity
How to talk to children about death in the news

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Ways to cope and remember

Helping a child remember someone who has died: two children painting a banner that reads 'Daddy'
Helping a child remember someone who has died
Child drawing a rainbow on tabletop with lots of art supplies around.
Supporting a child on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day 
Dad using laptop with son watching on and daughter using tablet device.
Coping with anniversaries and special days after someone has died
Young girl looking upset and being hugged by her mum - Supporting children after a baby dies - Winston's Wish
Supporting children and young people after a baby dies

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Ways to cope and support

Adult and child having a conversation sitting on a sofa.
Supporting a child bereaved of both parents
Supporting a child or young person after the death of a parent: Young boy sitting on grass with his head resting in his hands
How to help a child after the death of a parent
Supporting a child with their grief and mental health. Image featuring a mother hugging her teenager and young child in front of a lake
Helping children with their grief and mental health
What to say (and not say) to a grieving teenager. Image of a black teenage girl smiling outside by a lake
What to say (and what not to say) to a grieving young person
Supporting a grieving teenager: mum and daughter lying on bed while the daughter plays on her phone
Supporting a grieving teenager
White mum using smartphone with daughter at home.
Do children and young people grieve differently?
Mother and young daughter hugging - Managing separation anxiety in children after a bereavement - Winston's Wish
Managing separation anxiety in children after a bereavement
Young boy cuddling toy at bedtime and being comforted by parent
Helping grieving children experiencing nightmares and sleep difficulties
Man and Woman reading a book to a foster child
Tips for Foster Carers supporting bereaved children and young people
How to help a child grieving the death of a pet
How to help a child grieving the death of a pet
Parent sitting and talking to young teenage child
Talking to grieving children about a new relationship after the death of a parent
Supporting bereaved children with no memories of their person: small boy holding a night light and looking out of a dark window
Supporting bereaved children with no memories of their person

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Support at School

how can exam season impact a grieving young person. Image featuring a young girl sitting an exam
Supporting grieving young people during their exams
How schools and teachers can help a bereaved child return to school. Image of a teacher helping a student in a classroom
How can teachers and schools help a grieving child go back to school?
Helping a bereaved child return to school. Image with primary school children sat on the floor around the teacher
How to support your child returning to school after a bereavement
Supporting grieving children transitioning to secondary school - Winston's Wish
Supporting a grieving child transitioning from primary to secondary school

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SEND Support

Dad and daughter sat at a table doing colouring - supporting neurodivergent grieving children
Supporting neurodivergent grieving children
Black child wearing headphones looking at tablet device.
Supporting a bereaved child who has autism
Parent using tablet device with child with SEND.
Telling a child with SEND someone has died
Young child with SEND walking holding hands with two adults.
Do children with SEND understand death?

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Sudden, traumatic and accidental death

Mum sat reading a book with two children
Explaining death through drugs and alcohol to children
Child looking at adult
Talking about sudden death with children and young people
Mother supporting her teenage daughter
Supporting children and young people after a sudden or traumatic death
Explaining homicide to children and young people: small blonde boy hugging a parent on a beach front
Explaining homicide to children and young people
Parent support a young person
How to explain suicide to children and young people
Man holding the hand of his daughter while they talk
Should I tell my child their important person died by suicide?
Parents talking to child.
How to explain an accidental death to a child or young person

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Resources for bereaved children and young people

Suggested reading list

A list of books to help bereaved children of different ages to understand what has happened and help them express their feelings.

VIEW READING LIST
Activities

Activities to help grieving children and young people express their feelings and to help them maintain memories of the person who has died.

DOWNLOAD ACTIVITIES
Stories from young people

Our young people’s website Talk Grief is packed with advice and tips from our bereavement support team, as well as real life stories from other grieving young people.

VISIT TALKGRIEF.ORG

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