Guys Gift Charity
BEREAVED YOUNG PEOPLE IN WARWICKSHIRE GIVEN A HELPING HAND
The WPH Charitable Trust has awarded £2,000 to Guy’s Gift charity to help provide
professional counselling to children and vulnerable young adults up to the age of 25
mourning the death of a loved one.
It is the fifth grant, totalling almost £12,000, awarded by WPH to Guy’s Gift over the last
eight years.
The money will be used towards the funding of one-to-one bereavement counselling and
support for 20 children and young people in Warwickshire.
Operating across the whole of Warwickshire and working with children and young people
predominantly aged five years and over, children are referred through schools, children’s
services, family support teams, health professionals and other support agencies.
With no premises to maintain or overheads such as heating to fund, every penny of the
the grant will go straight to frontline services. It will help Guy’s Gift pay for travel expenses,
literature and other resources needed by its trained counsellors to deliver regular sessions
at a location within the community or via remote support sessions using video call
technology.
The children receive, on average, six counselling sessions, although session frequency and
numbers are personalised based on individual needs, whether at the time or later on as they
grow older, and their understanding and perspective of their loved ones’ death changes.
By the end of their counselling, Guy’s Gift aims to have equipped its young people with
coping strategies helping them to deal with their bereavement whilst learning to continue
progressing in life and treasuring the memories of their loved ones.
In 2022 the charity worked with 600 young people – over 50 per cent more than the
previous year and four times as many as in 2016.
The increase between 2021 and 2022 is partially attributed to Covid, but with a suppression
of all activity during the lockdowns, children may also have suffered more mental health
issues due to isolation and not seeing their loved ones as much before death. In addition,
many may not have had the opportunity for a more ‘normal’ grieving process due to
restricted funeral attendance and a reduced ability to meet with and receive support from
wider family.
Greater awareness of the charity is also thought to be a contributory factor.
Brian Taylor, Fundraiser for Guy’s Gift, said: “As a small team with limited resources, we rely
heavily on the generosity of charitable trusts as well as individuals, businesses and
organisations.
“The ongoing support we receive from the WPH Charitable Trust is really valuable to us.
