Dear Friends,
I wanted to personally let you know about some changes we at The Loss Foundation are making to the way we do things.
Over the past 7 years we have reached and supported thousands of people with our support groups, social events, retreats and online support. We are so proud to be doing what we do, and to be meeting the needs of people who would otherwise have no support at all. However, we know there are so many people across the country still not getting any support, and we want to work towards reaching them and doing so in the most helpful ways possible.
Over the years we’ve been listening to what people need and want, we’ve been studying different models of support and visiting bereavement organisations internationally. Now it’s time to bring our new thinking and the best of what we know about grief support directly to you. This means making some changes to the services we run.
At the end of 2018 we will stop running as many support groups in London, and continue with just our monthly group in south-central London at our sofa.com venue. This has been where we have been running themed groups (parent loss groups, partner loss, sibling loss, and more), which have been popular and we’ve learned that specificity is sometimes very important to help people engage with others at a difficult time. It’s working really well so we’re keeping it, and happy to share that it’s easily accessible from Southwark station, and in the comfiest sofa showroom in London 🙂
And we are really excited to share that in October 2018 we will be launching a new type of support group in London. Rather than being a drop-in support group we will be hosting therapy groups that people can sign up to, which will provide support, education, and guidance with the same group of people for a 9-week period. If you’re struggling with difficult memories, anxiety, troubled sleep, low mood, lack of motivation, isolation, and more, these groups are for you. They will help you learn more about loss and how to cope with all that arises from it, as well as help you make stronger connections with others in a similar situation. These will be therapeutic, social and free of charge. It’s where we foresee memories being shared, difficult thoughts being challenged and friendships being made. We will be sending information on the new therapy groups in a couple of weeks time at which point you will be able to register to take part.
We will continue to run our retreats, our walks and some coffee mornings here and there in London (click here for info on our get togethers), and will in time evolve and expand the way we run our social events. For our friends in Oxford, we are making plans to host some social get togethers in your area, and in order to do so we need to hear from any of you that would be interested in helping us do that. Reply to this email if you’re up for creating a support circle in Oxford who meet for coffees and walks.
We will keep you posted on all of our developments as and when they are happening. And to mark the start of our exciting changes we are going to host a party in December. It’s for all of you. It will be a chance to meet our team, to meet others in loss, and to look forward to a broader, more comprehensive bereavement support service from The Loss Foundation in 2019. We would love for you to join us for catch ups, drinks and nibbles. Date and details to follow soon.
Lastly but most importantly, I want you to know I really care about you. I started this charity because my Dad died and there was no support. But for a long time now it’s not been about him or me – I carry on doing this for you. I know what it’s like to feel lost, devastated, hopeless, helpless, and incomplete. I believe the changes we are making will help you and so many more people when they feel that way, or maybe even stop them feeling that way at all.
In summary, we are moving away from hosting as many drop in support groups in London to instead provide more therapeutic and extended group support. This is all about supporting you better. There’ll be more details coming soon but I wanted you to hear this first and from me.
That’s all from us for now. Please rest assured we are always here for you. And please reach out if you have any questions, feedback, or feelings to share.
With love,
Erin xxx
