We know intimately the feelings of loss, pain, anger and grief and the sheer devastation to our lives caused by such a tragedy, and yet, to have to carry on, to try to live as normal a life as possible in order to help and support your other children through their pain, grief and loss at the same time as coming to terms with your own emotions and loss.  Initially, there appeared to be no support network available in our local area, so in those crucial first few weeks after our loss we very much relied upon our family, friends and the local community to help us through each day, and to who we are very grateful.

The idea for our charity was born out of the struggle we had trying to ask for and obtain help and advice for ourselves and especially for our daughter who is Harry’s twin.

Our Primary Aims 

1. To raise awareness of the support network that is available to bereaved children and their families, and providing vital information for bereaved families. We feel it is important that bereaved families know where they can to for support and professional help.

We have a dedicated page of information and resources at www.harrysrainbow.co.uk for bereaved families, and also their friends and local communities that may need advice on how to provide help and support to their bereaved families, colleagues, neighbours’ and  friends. On this page you will find a comprehensive list of resources and contact details for other charitable organisations and local groups that will offer help. We have also included some tips that we have been given or have learned from our own experience along the way.

2. To fundraise and distribute funds to other charitable organisations, that either supports bereaved children and their families, or, work towards avoiding unnecessary death from illness and disease by the use of research and/or education.

3. To provide confidence building activities, trips and events for children in the Milton Keynes/Bucks area and up to the age of 16 who have been bereaved of a parent or sibling.

We feel very strongly about providing the much needed support to children that are “left behind” after the death of a sibling or parent, to help them to deal with their emotions, more often ones that they don’t understand. We feel that by offering these children the chance of a break, an opportunity for them to have some fun and jump out of their pool of grief, to briefly forget their constant pain, even just a day can help greatly towards re-building their confidence and showing them that it is ok to enjoy themselves, to laugh, play and “be normal”.

We feel giving them the opportunity to interact with other children in similar circumstances can also help them to feel more “normal”.

We feel it is important to support and raise awareness of the charities that can help those families suffering bereavement; some charities are volunteer led and are unable to raise their own funds and generate support. We aim to build that bridge and help by fundraising for these particular charities.

The charities we have selected for our support this year are:

The Child Bereavement Charity

Based in Buckinghamshire, this organisation offers help, support and counselling to families with children who have suffered bereavement

Visit their website for more information: www.childbereavement.org.uk

The Milton Keynes Bereavement Service

Based at the “Christ The Cornerstone” Church in Central Milton Keynes these are a volunteer led group of counsellors that hold “drop in” sessions at the church as well as offering home visits.

Visit their website for more information: www.bereavementservicemk.org.uk

Asthma UK

Many of us will have heard of Asthma and probably even know several people who suffer from it.

However this can occasionally be a pitfall when someone close to you is diagnosed with the disease. You may not feel it is necessary to educate yourself on good practice in managing the disease, or even know what to do in the event of an emergency or how to identify and spot the signs of an asthma attack. We have also found that even professionals were unable to offer sufficient guidance on managing the disease and preventing life threatening attacks. Therefore, we feel that if we can help to support and promote “AsthmaUK” with the educating of professionals and families of sufferers and if by doing so we can save just one life, then that will be worth it.

Visit their website for more information: www.asthma.org.uk

If there is a worthy charity that you feel we may be able to help in our next financial year (Oct 2012-13) please do contact us and we will consider it.

Charitable organisations under consideration for our help next year include Willen Hospice and The Daniel Estick Trust 

Donate