Free Seminar Helps People Cope With Family Loss

Derby’s longest established family-owned funeral directors, G Wathall & Son, have teamed up with fellow professionals to hold a seminar exploring how to cope with a death in the family.

The event will be held at the Grange Banqueting Suite in Burton Road, Littleover, on Friday September 29 between 2pm and 4pm.  Places are free of charge but booking is essential.

Speakers at the event will be Chris Dilley, Senior Counsellor at the Laura Centre, Derby, which helps local families when a child dies or is bereaved; and Angela Thompson, Bereavement Services Coordinator at Wathall’s.

Angela explained: “The ‘Loss in the Family’ seminar will draw on our experience and knowledge to look at the many emotions and challenges that a loss within a family brings – be it a partner, child or sibling.

“It will also highlight the support that is available in local communities in and around the city to help people come to terms with their loss.

“This includes our own four-week Grief Journey Derby programme, funded by Wathall’s, which is the opportunity to be part of a group that explores the grief process and emotional pathway to help bereaved people cope with adjustments to life as it is now and the ‘new normal’.

“We also offer free social bereavement support groups, Derby Dandelions, which meet twice monthly in the afternoon in Derby and now in Ashbourne.

Helen Wathall is Managing Director of G Wathall & Son which won the Derby Telegraph Contribution to the Community business award earlier this year and have branches in Macklin Street, Derby; Alvaston, Borrowash and Ashbourne.

She continued: “I know from a personal and professional point of view just how devastating it is to lose a member of your family. It is important that people know that they are not alone in struggling emotionally and practically to come to terms with their loss.

“We are also organising a morning session for professionals such as solicitors, teachers and health professionals and this is now full but there are still some spaces left on the afternoon public seminar.

“People are welcome to come along regardless of the timescale of their bereavement and I hope that it will help to prepare people for the next stage of their lives.”

To book a place on the ‘Loss in the Family’ seminar, please contact G Wathall & Son, Tel: 01332 345268 or email the firm’s bereavement services coordinator Angela Thompson angela@wathall.co.uk and visit www.wathall.co.uk

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