Paige’s story

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Paige’s Story

 

As part of Children’s Mental Health Week, Paige has chosen to share her story about her dad and her experience with Nelson’s Journey

“In 2015, when I was 16, my world changed forever. My dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and sadly passed away just 18 weeks later. At that age, I didn’t know how to cope. I bottled up my feelings and tried to carry on, which often led to overwhelming outbursts of anger and sadness.

 

Everything changed when I found support through Nelson’s Journey, a Norfolk-based charity dedicated to helping bereaved children and young people. Their 1:1 counselling, group sessions, and an activity weekend at Hilltop Outdoor Centre gave me something I desperately needed: understanding.

 

At that weekend, I met others who truly understood what I was going through. Together, we created memory boxes and jars, lit candles in remembrance, and shared stories of our loved ones. We learned that grief looks different for everyone – and that’s okay. Nelson’s Journey equipped me with practical strategies to cope and helped me see that finding moments of joy after bereavement is not only possible but healthy.

 

Today, I’m proud to give back as a volunteer for Nelson’s Journey. I’ve learned how to support children through conversations about death and grief – skills that have even helped me talk to my 8-year-old niece about my dad. I’m incredibly grateful for the impact Nelson’s Journey has had on my life and the difference they continue to make for so many young people.

 

Losing my dad had a profound impact on my mental health, but through the years, I’ve grown more resilient – both personally and professionally. I know he would be proud of the person I’ve become. Today, I’m passionate about breaking the stigma around mental health.

 

Share more. Care more. End the stigma.”

 

Thank you so much to Paige for sharing her story!

 

Hilltop Activity Days – November 2025

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Hilltop Activity Days – Summer 2025

Last weekend we held one of our Therapeutic Weekends at Hilltop in Sheringham.

 

We had 19 young people attend over the 2 activity days. The Saturday was for 8-17 year olds while the Sunday was our new Under 8s day.

 

The Saturday was filled with activities. The High Ropes saw lots of the young people facings their fears and bravely trying the new activities, paired with therapeutic activities to help them tell their bereavement stories and navigate their grief.

 

The Sunday featured a new Under 8s programme, developed based on feedback and learnings from previous weekends, which saw children meet their new NJ teddy bears, tell their stories among others their age who have had similar experiences to them and learn strategies to cope with their feelings. In between therapeutic activities, the day saw the children brave their fears and take part in an outdoor assault course and low ropes.

 

The weekend was a huge success and all of the young people got a huge amount out of both activity days.

 

Our Senior Child Bereavement Support Worker Fiona said: ‘It was a brilliant weekend where families came together to experience something truly transformative. The activities enabled families to communicate and share their grief with one another and many friendships were formed.’

 

Funding and Marketing Officer Maisie attended the weekend for the first time and said: ‘It was privilege to spend the weekend working with the children and young people at Hilltop. It was brilliant to see the journey the young people went on from coming in first thing to collect their hoodies nervous and apprehensive about the day ahead, to quickly making friends and sharing their bereavement stories with confidence amongst one another!’

 

If you require support and would like to talk to one of our team, please call our support line on 01603 431788

 

 

 

This weekend was kindly funded by Norfolk Community Foundation through the Norfolk Superhero Fund


Grief Connections October 2025

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Grief Connections

Last week, we held a Grief Connections Day, with 10 families attending.

 

Grief Connections is facilitated by our specialist Child Bereavement Support Workers and supported by trained Nelson’s Journey volunteers. This is a new service which has been developed over the last year.

 

This service was introduced as we know that group work offers such a positive impact to the children and young people we support. The purpose of the day is to support children and young people in families where the bereavement is having a significant impact upon the parents & carers as well as the young people. It is a day of therapeutic bereavement activities for young people and their parents and carers.

 

The day started with an introduction to the theories of grief; to promote understanding and help families understand what healthy grief looks like.

 

The group then split to allow the adults and the young people to explore and discuss what their grief looks like. The adults in their group discussed their grief and how the bereavement is affecting themselves and their children. We talked them through the upstairs/downstairs brain, so that they will understand how their children respond when feeling upset or distressed.

 

After lunch we explored ways to look after yourself.

 

The young people shared their stories with the group and then the Child Bereavement Support Workers led them through ways to look after themselves and safely express their grief. The parents and carers also discussed their coping strategies. They were encouraged to think of healthy ways to look after themselves. The families then came back together and created memory jars.

 

We ended the day with our wishing tree ceremony. Both adults and young people created wishing tree discs to hang on the tree – on one side was a message to the person they came to remember and on the other is a wish for their future.

 

The day went really well and one of our Child Bereavement Support Workers said  “All families who attended made meaningful connections with each other, learning new ways to support themselves and each other.”

 

 

The day was kindly funded by The Zohar Dean Trust

World Mental Health Day 2025

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World Mental Health Day 2025

 

On Mental Health Day, Nelson’s Journey is encouraging everyone to take a moment to reflect on how they feel and how they can look after their own mental health.

 

After a bereavement, it is important to look after yourself and your mental health. If you are supporting a young person who is bereaved, looking after how you are feeling will ensure you are in the best position to help them.

 

‘You can’t pour from an empty cup’ is a phase we often hear, and when you are supporting a bereaved child or young person, this is important to keep in mind.

 

Self-care is the conscious effort of making time for activities that encourage maintaining your own mental and physical health.

 

When you make time for self-care, you are actively ‘filling up your cup,’ giving you more energy to do the things you love, with the people you love. It is helpful to consider how full your cup is, as a measure of whether your personal needs are fulfilled and how happy you are.

 

These things which fill your cup are different for everyone, and on World Mental Health Day, Nelson’s Journey is encouraging you to reflect on what these small activities you can do are, to improve your wellbeing.

 

Making a difference through Early Support

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Making a difference through Early Support

 

Our Early Support Service is a telephone-based support and helps families to understand and support a child’s needs in the early weeks after a death, often before the funeral has taken place. Our Child Bereavement Support Team may help with things such as how to explain what happens at a funeral, how to tell a child or young person someone has died, how to explain death, alongside any other concerns a family may have.

 

We recently received some amazing feedback from a family who had used our early support services:

 

“Everything that Duncan (Child Bereavement Support Worker) and Nelson’s Journey have done to support me and my children during this time has been beyond helpful. Their early intervention, understanding and assistance made a significant difference to my daughter’s wellbeing and helped us navigate an extremely sad period. Duncan was exceptionally knowledgeable and able to answer and support any questions or concerns I had, no matter how difficult. We were treated with genuine empathy and respect, which made a real difference to my confidence in supporting her. The support provided around challenging conversations such as cremation, dying, and what happens next was made so much easier thanks to Duncan’s guidance. The signposting and support for both my children and me were excellent and simply having someone to talk to was invaluable. It is such a wonderful charity, and my daughter and I feel incredibly lucky to have had their support.”

 

“The support felt so personalised, with every detail considered in a caring and thoughtful way. The service was comprehensive and responsive to our needs at the time. Communication was always clear and timely, and I felt genuinely listened to throughout the process. It gave me the confidence to help her through losing such a special person. The resources and guidance offered were practical and easy to access, and we never felt rushed or overlooked. We are so lucky to have this brilliant charity by our side.”

 

“When I asked my daughter, who’s 7, what she thought, she said: “I really loved my box of special things (Smiles & Tears Box). I was really worried I would forget Charlie, but we always talk about him and my worries, and we put them in the jar just in case. I love my book about Charlie, and our memories are there safe, so we won’t forget him. I still feel very sad, but I have my snow leopard to cuddle and think of him. Plus, snow leopards are my favourite so Charlie must have picked it.”

 

If you require support and would like to talk to one of our team, please call our support line on 01603 431788

Back to School 2025 Top Tips

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Back to School 2025 Top Tips

The start of the new school year is just around the corner, for a child or young person who has experienced a bereavement this can be an unsettling time, they may be meeting new people, moving to a new school or starting a new routine which can be difficult, so we’ve included some tips for anyone who may be feeling anxious.

 

Write down your thoughts

Write a journal or diary, you can write down everything you are feeling and what you would like to do. Some people write letters to people, that they may never send, just to help get out their thoughts and feelings, seeing everything on paper may make it look more manageable. You could create a Milestone Journal, where you write down something that happened on your first week back at school and then add to it on significant days such as Christmas, prom or birthdays, you could even add in a photo alongside it from each day.

 

It is ok to ask for help

Talk to someone you trust and tell them how you are feeling, getting someone else’s perspective on your situation can be really useful, it is good to see things from a different viewpoint. Try and be open about your thoughts and avoid being on your own when you are feeling down, why not contact your friends and ask for their support.

Our Senior Child Bereavement Support Worker, Fiona says “You won’t be the only person who will be worried about going back to school. It is okay to talk to your friends and tell them the things you are worried about”.

Our Child Bereavement Support Worker, Duncan says “if you need to know some information or are worried about anything at all, then make sure you speak to an adult in school who you trust. They will want to help you.”

 

Get enough sleep

A good night’s sleep is very important in helping your body and mind cope with stress. We all need to sleep for energy, good concentration and general health. It may help to start developing a healthy routine before you start back it make it easier.

 

Take your time

It can take time to adjust to being back at school, and it’s okay if it doesn’t feel comfortable at first. Even when you’re back, make time every day to do something you enjoy.

 

Our Child Bereavement Support Worker, Amy also suggested “If you are allowed to, put something small from home in your pocket like a button, photo or something similar. If you are feeling worried during that day you can touch your pocket or hold your item for a short time to make you feel better and remind yourself that people care for you”

 

All at Nelson’s Journey wish you the best of luck for the new school year.

 

If you require support and would like to talk to one of our team, please call our support line on 01603 431788

Hilltop Activity Days – Summer 2025

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Read more

Results Day 2025 Top Tips

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Results Day 2025 Top Tips

For children and young people, results day can be a huge milestone and when a significant person is no longer present in their life, it can trigger very difficult feelings associated with grief, sometimes making it even harder to handle these moments.

 

Some children and young people may already feel these absences in the lead-up to significant days such as results day, for others, it may not hit them until afterwards. The journey of grief is unique to everyone and it’s important to take care of yourself and find ways to support yourself if these difficult moments arise.

 

Our Funding & Marketing Officer, Megan experienced her own childhood bereavement at 8 years old when her mum passed away from cancer she said:

“Results day can be such a mixture of emotions for everyone, let alone when you add in the element of grief. For me I feel it sparked up lots of unanswered questions, would she be proud, what would she think of me now and wishing I could tell her what the results were. Overall, it was a happy day for me an opportunity to celebrate all my hard work and that was ok, it’s always ok to enjoy things even when someone significant has died.

“My top tip would be to always remember it’s ok to feel sad or to spend time thinking about the person you are grieving but equally it’s ok to celebrate, have fun or feel happy, it will never mean you miss that person any less.”

 

Duncan, one of our Child Bereavement Support Worker’s top tip is: “You could write a letter to your special person or keep an ongoing diary or journal, with milestones, achievements and even disappointments. You could also include a photo of what you are writing about.

“It’s also important for you to remember that not everything in life is going to work out how you want and it’s okay to acknowledge this in a journal entry too, with maybe how you will reflect and learn from this.”

 

Keeley, one of our Child Bereavement Support Worker’s top tip is: “it could be helpful to plan a moment during the day to remember your special person, such as lighting a candle, visiting the grave or a place special to them, or listening to their favourite song.

“You might like to wear a piece of their clothing, jewellery, or favourite colour on the day to feel connected to them.

“Not all milestone occasions are sad, some can also be days of celebration and joy. Either way, remember to be kind to yourself, allow the tears to come if needed and don’t feel bad if you are happy.”

 

All at Nelson’s Journey wish you the best of luck for results day and for your next steps.

 

If you require support and would like to talk to one of our team, please call our support line on 01603 431788