A COUNSELLOR is aiming to set up a group to help support bereaved children and their families in Ryedale.

Children’s bereavement specialist Trisha Taylor said she also wanted to raise awareness about the lack of dedicated services for bereaved children in the area.

Trisha originally trained at York St Johns University and has worked for more than 15 years in the field of childhood bereavement and loss.

She said: “I worked in both the voluntary sector and NHS Child and Adolescent Mental health services (CAMHS) as a specialist counsellor and children’s mental health advisor in Scarborough, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, as well as setting up and delivering a range of children’s bereavement services.

“I retained a base in North Yorkshire during this time, but on returning to live in the area full-time this year discovered that for a number of reasons service provision for bereaved children and families now significantly lags behind what is offered in many other parts of the country.

“Since then I have been working to identify and raise awareness of the gap in service and explore what can be created here.

“I would really like people to join me the group to help take it to the next step of service creation.”

Trisha added: “Bereavement in childhood can be devastating for children and families.

“Parents and carers shouldn’t have to cope alone, family, friends, colleagues, schools and the government all have a part to play in supporting them to support grieving children.

“I believe support should be available for all grieving children and their families that need them – wherever they live and however they have been bereaved – helping them realise that they are not alone.”

Trisha is looking for people who can volunteer time to help create a trustee board, are interested in applying to be trained to become a children’s group volunteer worker or are interested in fundraising.

For more information, phone 07805 866917 or find them on Facebook.