Vote For Grief Encounter and Support Bereaved Children, Young People and Their Families After the Death of Someone Close.

Who is Grief Encounter?

1 in 29 children suffer the death of a parent or sibling every year in the UK. Grief Encounter is a leading UK bereavement charity, offering free, professional support to bereaved children, young people and their families. Without intervention, statistics show that bereaved young people can go on to suffer emotional, behavioural, social and academic issues and so our clinical team work hard to mitigate against the negative outcomes of grief.

Grief Encounter’s fully-qualified clinical team offers face-to-face and online therapeutic services, including grieftalk, the free, national helpline, open weekdays, 9am – 9pm. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, grieftalk has been available to all those suffering grief, with immediate listening services, advice and support available.

Grief Encounter’s unique Family Programme, offered remotely and in person for up to two years, includes tailored care plans for the individual that will include 1:1 counselling, online workshops, Covid-secure family days, creative therapies and more. Grief Encounter also provides free advice and best practice bereavement training to educational institutions and corporate organisations, following the death of a student or an employee, whilst their specialist trauma team work with the public and government to support humanitarian disasters such as terrorist attacks, and tragedies such as the Grenfell fire.

With no government funding, Grief Encounter relies solely on private donations to fund our £1.3 million running costs, supporting over 6500 individuals annually.

Increase in Demand for Services at Grief Encounter

Grief Encounter saw a huge increase in demand for our services, with the national helpline, grieftalk, seeing a surge from those who had been impacted by bereavement across the UK. Grief Encounter rapidly pivoted its counselling service to be online, enabling counsellors to continue to provide top quality professional bereavement counselling to children and young people across the UK. Demand has continued to grow, with more bereaved families than ever before needing support and Grief Encounter has responded by expanding the clinical team, bringing in additional counsellors to enable even more families to access the vital support they need through their darkest times.

Grief Encounter’s Vision and Mission

Grief Encounter’s vision is that every bereaved child and their family has access to the best possible bereavement support to help alleviate the pain caused by the death of a loved one.

Their mission is to be one of the UK’s leading providers of support services for bereaved children and their families.

When Was Grief Encounter Founded?

In 2004, Dr Shelley Gilbert MBE established Grief Encounter, offering bereaved children and young people a safe space to grieve and talk about their feelings following the death of a parent or sibling.

“I want to make things different for today’s bereaved children. They need to be chief mourners and they need to be acknowledged. I grew up with two feeling words – happy and sad – and there was nothing in between.”

Shelley Gilbert MBE Founder & Lifetime President

Contact Details for Grief Encounter:

If you should need, or know anyone who needs, support following the death of someone close, you can reach out in the ways below:

Refer a child or young person here, and one of our Family Liaison Officers will be in touch to find out how best we can help.

Reach out via grieftalk, the national helpline for anyone impacted by bereavement. You can call, instant message or email. 0808 802 0111. You can find further information here

Head Office: 33-35 Daws Lane, Mill Hill, London, NW7 4SD

Clinical Office: Crystal House, Daws Lane, Mill Hill, London NW7 4ST

Phone: 020 8371 8455 (opt 1 Clinical & opt 2 Head Office)

Grieftalk HELPLINE: 0808 802 0111 (Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm) Charity number 1175837

How Can I Donate to Grief Encounter?

If you are looking to make a donation, you can donate directly through the website by following this link.

Grief Encounter receives no government funding, and is entirely reliant on donations like yours to continue to be there for bereaved children and young people. Thank you so much for your support.