Funeral group expands its free bereavement service

Anyone living with bereavement is invited to book themselves on one of the sessions that last for about an hour and a half.

Cindy Weller, a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and a member of the National Counselling Society (NCS) leads these sessions. They are open to anyone in the community and are not restricted to clients of the group.

The meetings are held monthly in Ferndown at the Royal British Legion and in Blandford at the parish council offices.

The monthly Purbeck groups meet alternately at the libraries in Swanage and Wareham.

Emma Regan from the funeral group that has eight branches in the county, said, “We launched our first group in Ferndown without knowing what demand there would be. However, it has been such a success that we have expanded into other branches.

“We were motivated to offer this free service because of our experience with funerals. Often we could tell by dealing with the bereaved that they might benefit from some counselling.

“All the groups are held in the first week of the month. Due to restrictions on numbers people just have to call the branch to book themselves in.”

The Albert Marsh branch is supporting the Wareham group. In Swanage the James Smith branch is supporting the sessions.