Listen: Children’s Grief Awareness Week

To celebrate the launch of the seventh Children’s Grief Awareness Week (CGAW), Founder and Lifetime President of leading UK bereavement charity, Grief Encounter, has released ‘Grief Book’, an award-winning activity book for bereaved children and young people.

This year’s CGAW theme focusses on #saythewords, giving bereaved children the opportunity to give their grief a public voice. As part of the week, campaigners are calling for a renewed focus on the children who have lost a parent or carer during Covid-19, warning their plight has dwindled in the public consciousness as the pandemic desensitises us to loss and grief.

At least 10,000 children have been bereaved of a primary caregiver across the UK due to the pandemic according to research published in the Lancet in July 2021. And over 50,000 children have had a parent, guardian or carer die from other causes over the last 20 months.

Aston spoke to grief book creator Dr Shelley Gilbert MBE.