An awareness event about coping with loss and grief is to be hosted at a town's library in a bid to encourage conversations surrounding the deaths of loved ones.
St Elizabeth East Coast Hospice is holding the Compassionate Conversations awareness training event at Beccles Library on Tuesday, September 12, between 10.30am and 12.30pm.
Hugh McElhinney, volunteer community manager at the hospice and who leads its facilitation of compassionate communities, said: “We are so pleased to bring Compassionate Conversations to Beccles and the surrounding area and look forward to providing support to these local communities.
“Compassionate Conversations is part of our wider Compassionate Communities work which sees the hospice work alongside the local community to encourage and facilitate open-up conversations with friends and loved ones concerning death and how we can all support one another with death, loss and grief.”
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The awareness training event will seek to break down taboos and myths about death and dying while providing guidance on how people can take the time to lend a friendly ear to those who may be experiencing grief or loss.
The session will also identify local support services available for those experiencing end-of-life, loss and bereavement.
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Compassionate Communities is a national approach which supplements the support given by healthcare providers by equipping the public to support each other with kindness during some of the most difficult times in their lives, such as the death of a loved one or the diagnosis of a serious illness.
As part of Compassionate Communities, St Elizabeth East Coast Hospice provides resources and guidance to enable the public to feel more confident in having conversations surrounding the taboo topics of bereavement, death and dying.
The hospice charity improves the lives of people in East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney living with a progressive or life-limiting illness.
To register your interest visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/compassionate-conversations-tickets-473233623507 or to find out more email hugh.mcelhinney@stelizabethhospice.org.u
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