Wolverhampton palliative care charity gets massive funding boost for programme helping young people to navigate grief and loss
A city charity offering palliative and end-of-life care has received a generous funding boost to help support a ground-breaking programme around grief and loss among young people.
Compton Care said it was delighted to announce the £50,000 donation from the Birchfield Educational Trust to support the programme helping children and young people navigate grief and loss, including forms of grief that often go unseen or unrecognised.
The new initiative will focus on 'disenfranchised loss', a grief that is not openly acknowledged or validated by society, and which includes experiences such as parental separation, relocation, loss of friendships, illness or disability within the family, and significant disappointments.
A spokesman for Compton Care said: "These forms of loss can have a profound emotional impact on children, yet they are frequently overlooked in traditional bereavement support.
"Thanks to the Birchfield Educational Trust’s support, Compton will work with local schools to raise awareness, build staff confidence, and provide resources that help children understand and manage their emotions during challenging times.
"Children encounter many types of loss throughout their lives, not only the death of a loved one. By increasing understanding of these experiences, teachers and school staff can create more compassionate, inclusive environments where pupils feel validated and supported."
The project will help schools to develop effective policies and whole-school approaches to bereavement and loss, equip teachers with the skills and confidence to support grieving pupils, access lesson plans and age-appropriate learning resources and build resilience across the school community.
The UK Commission on Bereavement’s 2022 report highlighted that there is currently no statutory requirement for grief education in schools and evidence shows that structured grief education enables children to better understand and manage their emotions and to support their peers more confidently.
The programme will be developed with two Wolverhampton partner schools before expanding across the region. Over the two-year project at least 50 schools are expected to participate, with ongoing evaluation to measure progress, outcomes, and long-term impact.
Compton’s dedicated children and young people support worker and trained children’s counsellor will lead the development and delivery of the training, using a blended model of face-to-face and virtual sessions to meet the needs of busy schools.
Rachel Overfield, CEO of Compton Care, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the Birchfield Educational Trust for this generous donation, which will allow us to support schools in recognising and responding to the many forms of grief that children experience.
"Not all loss is visible, and not all grief is openly acknowledged, yet its impact can be profound.
"Through this project, we aim to empower teachers with the confidence, knowledge and tools to create compassionate school environments where every child feels heard, supported and understood.”
Adam Frankling, chair of Birchfield Educational Trust said: “We are proud to support Compton Care in delivering this vital work.
"Children face many forms of loss that often go unnoticed, and schools play a crucial role in helping them make sense of these experiences.
"With this donation we are helping to build stronger, more resilient school communities where every young person can access understanding and support when they need it most.”
