made helps colleagues understand what the programme offers and a Give us a break! website is in development.
Bethany and Christopher - case studies
Bethany McVeigh, 15, of East Kilbride
, attended the Give us a break!
programme at St Andrew’s and St Bride’s School following the death of her father.
‘When my dad died, I was really upset and I found it really hard to come to terms with. One of my teachers suggested I attend the group, which I did every week. I didn’t really know the people in the group when I started going, but I’m really good friends with some of them now,’ Bethany says.
‘Everyone in the group was around the same age as me and I found it really easy to talk to them about how I felt about my dad’s death. It helped a lot to know that there were other people who felt the same and I wasn’t the only one this had happened to.’
Christopher Rinn, 15, of East Kilbride, attended Give us a break! after he struggled to come to terms with the death of his mother three years earlier, and then later his grandmother.
He was referred to the group by his guidance teacher at St Andrew’s and St Bride’s School. Christopher, who is now giving talks at his school to bereaved children on the benefit of attending the group, said, ‘When my mum died, I felt sad and a bit depressed. This was something which really hit me when my gran also died a year later.
‘The group really helped me though, because although we spoke about what had happened and why we were sad, what we really focussed on was on our strengths and how to make the most of them. I got a lot of confidence from it and it made me feel a lot better.’