For those of you who have participated in our CPD courses (either online or face-to-face) know that we donate 1% of the course price to a nominated charity each year. We call this the Pay It Forward Policy.

You can learn more about this here.

In December, we put out requests on social media and our newsletter for worthy charities to be nominated for this initiative. We had a wide variety of suggestions but one that kept coming up and was on our radar for some time was the Children’s Grief Centre in Limerick.

We decided to choose them as the recipient for 2019 and here’s why:

In 2011, it was estimated that in Ireland there were 3,360 16 year olds who had experienced the death of one or both parents. A similar number had experienced the death of a sibling (Irish Hospice Foundation, 2012).

More recently, according to the Growing Up in Ireland Study, a Government-funded study of children being carried out jointly by the ESRI and Trinity College Dublin: “Over one-third of 9-year-olds had experienced the death of a close family member (not including a parent) since the age of 5.”

The Children’s Grief Centre was founded in 2009 by, Sister Helen Culhane, together with a support group of professionals. As a Sister of Mercy. a qualified social worker and psychotherapist, Helen worked with people who were struggling with issues relating to death, bereavement and palliative care. This included time spent at Milford Care Centre.

Helen’s experience meant she developed a clear understanding of the needs of children and young people who were experiencing loss. She recognised that there was a lack of services and support. Helen also saw there was an increasing need for support of children and young people who suffer loss due to separation or divorce of parents.

Helen’s vision was that the Centre would provide children and young people with a listening ear.

To learn more about the Children’s Grief Centre, please visit their website: https://www.childrensgriefcentre.ie/