Winston's Wish

About

Winston's Wish were the UK’s first childhood bereavement charity – supporting bereaved children since 1992.

As the first charity to establish child bereavement support services in the UK, we continue to lead the way in providing specialist child bereavement support services across the UK, including in-depth therapeutic help in individual, group and residential settings.

Winston’s Wish was established by Julie Stokes OBE, a clinical psychologist, in 1992 to meet the needs of bereaved children and their families. The idea took root when Julie visited the US and Canada on a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship. Having been inspired by the services she saw there, Stokes returned to the UK and set up Winston’s Wish.

Freephone National Helpline

The charity offers a freephone national helpline and can offer advice, guidance and support following a bereavement. Their expert team provide bereavement support for parents, carers and professionals who are looking for childhood bereavement advice and support.

Contact the helpline on:  08088 020 021 

Online Chat

Winston's Wish provides an online chat service which is designed to help individual's discuss and manage their grief. 

Lessons on Loss and Bereavement Gain the PSHE Association's Quality Mark

The PSHE Association have awarded their Quality Mark to free lessons for Key Stages 1-4 on loss, grief and bereavement from Winston’s Wish — the childhood bereavement charity.

On average, 1 in every 29 children will be bereaved of a parent — the equivalent of one in every class — and many more children will experience the death of another family member or friend. These lesson plans provide the opportunity to take a sensitive approach to learning about bereavement in the classroom. They will support children and young people to develop the skills and understanding they need to deal with this particular life event.

Comprising two lessons for each key stage, these resources are designed to help pupils and students explore bereavement and grief in developmentally appropriate ways. They are not intended as a pastoral intervention in the event of a bereavement in the school community, as at that point the priority is for pastoral care rather than preventative education.

The lessons are not suitable for home learning. 

At Key Stages 1 and 2, pupils will:

• Learn about different types of loss, change and bereavement

• Explore some strategies for managing feelings associated with bereavement

• Develop their awareness of how to seek support with feelings

At Key Stages 3 and 4, students will:

• Learn about managing emotions associated with grief

• Explore how to support others experiencing grief and loss

• Develop an awareness of how loss, grief and bereavement can impact young people

The free resource packs include a teacher guidance document along with a lesson plan and PowerPoint for each lesson.

Visit Winton’s Wish to download the free materials