The UK’s first children and young people’s bereavement charity, Winston’s Wish, is pleased to launch the third series of Britain’s first youth-driven grief podcast, hosted by and featuring young people with lived experience of bereavement.
Estimates suggest that, devastatingly, each day, more than 100 children in the UK are bereaved of a parent and that figure doesn’t equate how many young people are coping with the death of a sibling, grandparent, friend, or another significant individual in their lives.
Established in 1992, Winston’s Wish is the UK’s first children and young people’s bereavement charity and supports and impacts the lives of more than 80,000 grieving children and young people when their lives are turned upside down by grief.
The charity supports grieving young people up to the age of 25 and offers a range of grief content for children and young people as well as the adults around them and professionals.
Winston’s Wish is keenly youth-driven and features the real-life voices and experiences of those who know what it’s like to grow up with grief. Last year, the charity launched Talk Grief, a new website and TikTok account especially designed for teenagers and young adults to find comforting and informative content designed just for them.
The charity is celebrating the launch of the third series of Grief in Common, Britain’s first youth-driven grief podcast, which is hosted by and features young people with lived experience of bereavement. Each podcast episode features the voices of young people from the charity’s Youth Ambassador Team who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, friend or another individual in a range of different circumstances, including illness, accident, and suicide and so on.
The podcast seeks to create a space in which bereaved young people throughout the UK can access a network of information which normalises all the emotions and helps to reassure that they are not alone with their grief.
Previous episodes have covered: ‘What It’s Like to Go to University When Grieving’, ‘How To Tell Friends You’re Grieving’, ‘How To Cope With Grief Around Special Days’, among many other topics.
This series of the Grief in Common podcast will cover episodes such as: ADHD and Grief, Sibling Loss, Bereavement through Terminal Illness, and Sudden Loss. One episode will feature a television familiar face, Alfie Watts, the BBC Race Across the World Winner and Winston’s Wish Ambassador, who will draw upon his own experience of bereavement after losing his mum at the age of five and discuss what it is like to grieve from the male perspective.
Alfie comments, “I am so passionate about talking about grief, especially from the perspective of what it’s like to be male and grieving. I’ve been very open about the fact that I was very young when my mum died and, in a way, I feel like it was an easier journey for me because of the fact that I just accepted it all because it was just my normal. But as I get older and I deal with things as a young adult, as I said in the podcast, I’m realising how grief continues to be there in different ways.
“I really enjoyed being on the podcast; grief can feel like an isolating experience, it can be easy to feel like you’re the only one experiencing it, however in my role as an ambassador for Winston’s Wish, I’ve seen the power of those with lived, shared experiences of bereavement talking openly about their challenges. Even though the circumstances may be vastly different, young people who are growing up with grief can find a space to reassure them that they are not on their own, they aren’t the only ones going through all the emotions.
“I feel really proud to be part of the Grief in Common Podcast series, which is now in its third season, I know it’s a powerful tool that young and grieving people really resound with, and it feels important to be honestly communicating about relevant topics that we all face as we get older but which are made especially challenging when you’re grieving.”
Winston’s Wish is keen to ensure that no child or young person is left to grieve alone and champions the use the real voices from those with lived experience of bereavement. The charity launched Talk Grief, designed for bereaved 13–25-year-olds to learn from other young grieving people, find healthy ways to cope and feel less alone.
Winston’s Wish reassures bereaved young people and their families that they are welcome to chat online, email or call for free to speak to a bereavement support worker by calling 08088 020 021, emailing ask@winstonswish.org or using the live chat at winstonswish.org.