The Energy for Children Charitable Trust, a charity initiative of Phoenix Energy has provided funding to children’s charity, Cancer Fund for Children to help support bereaved families.
The generous donation will help Cancer Fund for Children provide 20 families who have experienced the death of a child or parent as a result of cancer with a bespoke bereavement box.
The bereavement boxes contain age-appropriate resources including books and memory making crafts and to help children, young people and parents remember their loved ones, share memories and openly express their grief.
Cancer Fund for Children support children and young people aged 0-24 struggling to cope with the emotional impact of cancer. Their team of Cancer Support Specialists help families at the critical end of life stage through the provision of direct individual support and therapeutic short breaks, and they continue to support bereaved families for a further two to three years.
Cancer Fund for Children’s Specialist Lynn Wilson explains,
“When a loved one dies life is turned upside down for families. Everyone will experience grief in their own unique way, and it will impact on every area of their lives. It is important for a child or young person to understand and express how they are feeling as they seek to process the death of a close family member, and it can be helpful for them to create their own ways of remembering while at the same time carrying out activities that can be restorative for them.
“Our Cancer Support Specialists have a wealth of knowledge and experience in supporting children and young people who have been bereaved. For many families, the cost of bereavement resources can be a hinderance to accessing support and our bereavement boxes will be tailored to support the whole family.
“We are so grateful to the Energy for Children Charitable Trust for this donation which will help empower families to take the lead in managing their grief, so they are better able to cope with their loss.”
Alan Thompson whose wife Emma died a year after being diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer said,
“As a parent of three young children who recently lost their mum, I know first-hand how difficult the weeks and months after a death can be. Quite often you find yourself rudderless, being in an unfamiliar situation you didn’t anticipate. The bereavement boxes will provide guidance to help deal with the loss of a loved one, be that through age-appropriate books or activities that cancer be performed together as a family.”
Charity Liaison Officer, Gillian Orr from the Energy got Children Charitable Trust added,
We’re delighted to support the incredible work of Cancer Fund for Children with funding for additional support to help children and young people who have been bereaved through cancer. Helping children and young people to express their feelings and process the loss of a loved one is so important and we’re proud to play a small part in helping to create a resource to support important conversations during a very difficult time.”
The Energy for Children Charitable Trust is an initiative of Phoenix Energy and the wider natural gas industry. The Charity was established in 2005 to provide financial support to groups and individuals that may slip through the net of the wider charity network.
Founded on the principle that ‘all monies raised go directly to local children and young people’, the Trust aims to reach deeper into the heart of local communities throughout Greater Belfast and beyond in order to really make a difference to disadvantaged children’s lives.
Since its formation, the trust has helped over 8,000 local children and continues to help those who need it most.