10/07/2023
Today was our last pop up Bereavement Cafe at The Unsworth Group, Westhoughton.
It has been a pleasure to chat with everyone who has attended over the last few months, and can’t thank you all enough for the bravery and strength you show just by walking into these sessions, because that is not easy, to go somewhere unknown, knowing that you’ll possibly be opening up about your own losses, traumatic experiences, such personal information with people you don’t know, but you all do, even though we give everyone permission to not speak and just listen, we are honored every week to hear your stories about your loved ones and the journeys you have been on.. and still on.
We’ve double whammy’d Westhoughton with us supporting the school too, I love that! A whole community approach to helping people of all ages with their Grief.
I’d also like to thank our lovely Social Preecriber, Julie, for helping us put these sessions together and supporting us each month - and thank you for th beautiful bouquet of flowers 💐
I’d just like to leave you with a few lines from an e-mail I have received, which really touched me, I hope it empowers others to come along and have a chat at one of our upcoming Cafes xx
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It was lovely to meet you, and the other ladies, at Peter House Surgery this morning for the bereavement cafe meeting. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a very big "thank you" for arranging it and I really hope there will be others I can attend when you start up again in September.
Before coming in the building today, I'd sat in the car approximately twenty minutes and have to say for a good fifteen of them I'd sort of convinced myself not to come in thinking very much "What have I got to offer?" and "It probably won't be for me." I then realised I'd made the effort to put some slap on (granted most of it ended up sliding down my face with crying ! ), taken the time to drive there but, above all, and what actually gave me the bottle to go in the building was, that the meeting had obviously been arranged by someone who cared, who had probably been through their own loss and would likely understand. I am so glad I came in !
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