BEREAVED children are to receive new support thanks to £1million Lottery funding in Glasgow.

The Big Lottery Fund has announced a cash boost for Child Bereavement UK, Richmond’s Hope and The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice to work together to plug the gaps that exist in support for bereaved children and young people in the city.

The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, Glasgow receives £499,525, to continue and extend its existing Butterfly Children’s & Young Person’s Bereavement Service over the next three years.

This will support children like siblings Daisy, Poppy and Noah Miles, 11, from Burnside who all received help with dealing with the loss of their dad David, after he was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer at the age of 52.
Daisy, 17, said the group work and later one-to-one counselling she received made a big impact.

She said: “For me the big thing was just being able to speak about it. I learned to laugh about the good times we had. 

“I definitely felt I needed help to do that.”

Poppy, 13, added: “We made friends with children who had been through the same experiences as us. It became easier to talk about everything without getting really upset. It made me feel stronger.”

The awards are part of a funding announcement of 26 new grants across Scotland totalling £7.1m.

For Richmond’s Hope an award of £154,397 means the Edinburgh-based charity is now able to extend its service into Glasgow for the first time. 

The Reverend Elisabeth Spence from Ibrox Parish Church, where Richmond’s Hope service will be based in Glasgow, said: “There is growing recognition that bereaved children and young people need to be offered support that’s centred on their personal needs and provided when, where and how they wish it. 

“When set up in Glasgow, Richmond’s Hope will have the opportunity to work and share expertise with Child Bereavement UK and The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.”

Child Bereavement UK, which has trained more than 1,700 professionals in Scotland over the past three years receives an award of £371,318. 

They will work with professionals providing bereavement awareness training to help them better understand and meet the needs of the grieving children, young people and families with whom their work brings them into contact. 

Meanwhile, Home-Start Glasgow North has also received £51,818 from the Big Lottery Fund’s new five year £250m funding scheme, designed to support people overcome difficulties and become more resilient.

They will use their award to grow their group of family support coordinators responsible for the intensive, high-quality training volunteers receive.