CHSA donates £10,000 to Grief Encounter

Grief Encounter was named the CHSA’s nominated charity in 2019. Following this year’s donation the total sum raised for Grief Encounter is now £50,000. 

Grief Encounter supports grieving children, young people and their families to find hope, healing and build resilience following the death of someone close. The charity relies entirely on voluntary gifts. This donation provides valuable, much-needed funds for services including a dedicated Bereavement Support team, one-to-one therapy, group workshops, family support and therapeutic weekend residentials. 

Andy Watts, Head of Partnerships at Grief Encounter said: “The death of someone close is incredibly difficult at any age, but for a child or young person it can be devastating. It turns their world upside down and leaves them feeling fearful, isolated and utterly lost. This gift from the CHSA makes a huge difference to us, helping us to walk by the side of bereaved children and young people during their darkest moments. 

“The donations we have received so far from the CHSA provide the equivalent funding for 350 therapy sessions and a residential weekend for 15 families. Therapy helps children and young people explore difficult emotions openly and honestly and the residential weekend provides opportunities for young people to develop resilience and create meaningful friendships and connections.”

One child in every UK classroom will experience the death of someone close by the time they reach 16 years old. Studies have shown bereaved children can face long-term social and emotional difficulties if they do not receive the right support at the right time, following the death of someone close.

A young person who received support from Grief Encounter said: “Here [at Grief Encounter] I feel like I can open up slowly and let out my feelings bit by bit, without being forced to. I like it because it feels like they really listen to me. I feel much better, much more capable of sharing my feelings.”

Lorcan Mekitarian, chair of the CHSA said: “Grief Encounter does an amazing job supporting children and young people through an extremely difficult time. We are incredibly proud to be able to support them in this work.

“We are very grateful to our members and their guests who attended our Gala Ball and our sponsors. Their contributions make it possible for us to support Grief Encounter.”

The 2025 Gala Ball was made possible by the sponsors: Greyland, Northwood, Polaris, SC Johnson and Vow Wholesale. The many organisations who donated raffle prizes also made it possible to raise such a significant sum for Grief Encounter.

For more information, visit www.chsa.co.uk

Discover more about Grief Encounter’s mission and impact at: https://www.griefencounter.org.uk/