A charity formed after a psychologist on a palliative care ward saw children suffering when they were kept out of conversations about the death of parents or siblings marks its 30th anniversary this month.

Winston’s Wish was the first charity of its kind and paved the way for children’s bereavement services in the UK.

Founder Julie Stokes said: “I saw people, including children, overwhelmed by the sadness of being excluded from grown up conversations about the serious illness and death of a parent or sibling.

"I could see there was nowhere for them to go to for support. The hospital I was working in gave me the opportunity to research this gap and find ways we could provide group support for children – initially this was within Gloucester Royal Hospital until we realised this wasn’t the right setting. We wanted them to feel like they could run around freely and play in between challenging grief work.”

The charity initially expected to run one group of twenty-five children a year, but soon found the amount of young people needing support was far greater.

“Very quickly it was obvious that the numbers of children bereaved from all causes was greater than anticipated, - the demand surged. We were soon running six weekends and we tried hard to ensure children experiencing similar types of deaths for example suicide or murder could talk openly with those their own age.”

The charity is now well supported by many who attended these early Winston’s Wish weekends, including Russ Brookes who said: “I remember chatting to kids on the coach, and it just feeling a bit normal, and being OK with it being normal, that was really hard at first."

He is now a big supporter of Winston’s Wish completing many fundraising events for the charity.

Over the years it has continued to grow expanding its reach to West Sussex, Brighton & Hove, Bristol and into London. As well as the expanding outreach locations, the childhood bereavement charity’s aim is to grow and continue supporting children and young people nationwide, through the Freephone Helpline, email support, online support groups and resources for both adults and professionals supporting bereaved young people.

Mum-of-two Debbie said “I remember the first time I looked at their website and I immediately felt relief. Relief that there was a place out there where people understood what it’s like to parent children who are grieving.”

With a digital first approach the charity aims to support 40,000 young people nationally every year by 2025. In addition to continuing its vital work helping grieving children and the adults supporting them, the charity is also making a promise to build a community and share their real and unedited experiences of grief.