Funeral partners focus on children

Funeral Partners focuses on children as challenging year closes

2020 was an unimaginable year for many families who had to deal with losing a loved one and embark on their grief journey during the pandemic and now the New Year has brought a new wave of Covid-19 restrictions.

Funeral Partners teams have witnessed first-hand the impact these challenging circumstances are having on the next generation and have been focusing on helping children to deal with their grief and confusion.

Grief book offers some comfort

Faced with the enormity of losing siblings, parents, or grandparents, it is often difficult for children to express their grief or to understand what is happening in their family.

Funeral Partners funeral homes in Northern Ireland are offering some comfort by providing an interactive ‘book of remembrance’ aimed at answering some tough questions and helping children articulate special memories of the loved one they have lost.

Each page of the fully illustrated book ‘Dear….’, published by Funer, helps the reader evoke memories of their loved one through the senses and encourages them to put pen to paper, to include photographs of people and places as reminders of happy times and explains the meanings of words which might be unfamiliar.

Andrew Neale of James Brown & Sons Funeral Directors, Belfast, said: “Throughout 2020, we have seen the upset and confusion on the

faces of children attending funerals who are not only trying to make sense of the death of a loved one but also the disruption to their daily lives due to the pandemic. The adults around them are trying to navigate their way through their own pain of loss in these most unusual of circumstances.

“Caring is at the heart of our business and since we cannot offer any physical comfort to the bereaved at this time, we want to reach out to offer support through the provision of these books which we trust will be of some comfort and help to the little ones who maybe can’t quite comprehend what is going on around them.”

Funeral Partners has limited copies of the children’s grief support book available. To request a copy please email: jamesbrown. belfast@funeralpartners.com.

Bringing a little Christmas cheer

To bring a little Christmas cheer, Greater Belfast funeral directors launched a festive art competition with colouring books and over £100 in vouchers awarded as prizes to children taking part.

John Gray & Co Funeral Directors asked 94 pupils from Holywood Nursery to create their best Christmas card designs that would be used on greetings cards and James Brown & Sons Funeral Directors asked 100 students from Victoria College in Belfast to take part.

With a large number of entries and amazing effort put in by the children of Holywood Nursery, Gordon Dunne MLA had the tough job of picking the winner. Three-year-old Ariah

was awarded first place and her design was printed on 200 cards for Holywood Nursery to distribute.

All 94 entrants at Holywood Nursery also received chocolate Santas and colouring books with pencils from John Gray & Co to say thank you for their wonderful drawings.

Barbara Wilson, Funeral Arranger, Holywood said: “All the entries were simply fantastic. It was difficult for Gordon to pick a winning design, but Ariah’s is well-deserved.”

The creative competition and standard was so high at Victoria College that there were three winners selected. Katie Dennison, Katie Walker and Sophie Eagleson each received £110 in Hobbycraft vouchers and their designs were printed on 150 cards for Victoria College to distribute.

James Brown from James Brown & Sons said: “Well done to all three students for their creative designs. There’s clearly a lot of artistic talent at Victoria College.” Funeral Partners is interested in further expansion in Northern Ireland and would be happy to have an informal and confidential chat with any Funeral Directors who are considering selling their businesses. Contact Chief Executive Officer Sam Kershaw, directly on 07834 531822 or email: sam.kershaw@ funeralpartners.co.uk or Acquisition & Mergers Director Steve Wilkinson on 07528 970 531 or email: steve.wilkinson@funeralpartners.co.uk

www.funeralpartnersnorthernireland.com

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