Bereaved Parents' Club

In this special episode for National Bereaved Parents Day 2026  we speak with Gayle Routledge, founder and CEO of A Child of Mine.  We hear how she set up National Bereaved Parents Day on 3 July 2020 and the purpose of this year's theme - This Is My Place.  We also hear her personal story about her son Lewis, from his neuroblastoma diagnosis and treatment to his death shortly before his third...

In this special collaboration episode For Dads By Dads we wanted to recognise and offer support for bereaved dads of any circumstances. We will hear from Dads who have lost a baby, a child, a young person and an adult child. We understand that each loss is unique but the difficulties and challenges you may be navigating right now might be similar. We hope by hearing from different Dads it brings y...

Nicola shares her heartbreaking story of her daughterLaura's bravery and determination after being diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer Glioblastoma.  How Laura defied the initial terminal prognosis timeline, the families fight for treatment to keep Laura alive.  Nicola shares stories of Laura's bucket list which went viral.  How Laura became a young ambassador for the Brain Tumour Charity and r...

How do you tackle wills, pensions and legacy post the death of your only child when you have little family and no future bloodline? Tracy George's Mum shares her experience and recent difficult conversations and being four years on with still no plan? We would be happy to hear any thoughts and what other parents and families have done? #childloss​

We are thankful that Katja Faber Argenta has taken the time to record this very special Christmas Message. Katja shares her experiences of navigating Christmas over the last eleven years after her son Alex was killed on 30th December 2014. For parents more newly bereaved or parents struggling this year with the difficulties of Christmas we hope you find some comfort in Katja's words on how her...

We are so honoured @love.from.dad Matt has recorded this very special Christmas Message for parents who are navigating the devastating loss of a baby or young child. Matt talks about navigating that first Christmas without their baby daughter Wren who died at eight days old in April 2022. Matt explains the difficulties of handling family photos and how they include Wrens bunny in these family gath...

Today we are so thankful for Sascha's little sister Stefanie who has kindly recorded this special Christmas message. Her older brother Sascha died aged 18 in 2004 from Glioblastoma which is an aggressive cancer in the brain. Stefanie shares how they honour and include Sascha at Christmas and have formed ways of doing this as a family every year. We love the candle lighting idea and having a ca...

We are so grateful to Emma Ruby's Mum for taking the time to record this special podcast short on how her family handle Christmas and include/honour their daughter Ruby who died in May 2020 at the age of eighteen from lymphoma a form of blood cancer. We hope it resonates and provides comfort and support to other bereaved parents as this time of year is particularly tricky and at times overwhel...

Kasia shares her story of her son Jakub including his musical talent and his final day.  We hear about Jaks World, a suicide prevention charity, and how this has helped Kasia in her grief.  Kasia explains the need to change the narrative around suicide and providing education to all and the important work Jaks World is doing in honest open conversations around suicide and its prevention.  Kasia, a...

Meet Debbie and Tracy, the two mums behind the Bereaved Parents’ Club. And meet Dan and George, their brilliant sons whose deaths led to the mums joining the club that nobody wants to be a member of.  This is an opportunity to find out how Tracy and Debbie met, and how the podcast came about. You’ll also hear about their books. Debbie wrote Midowed, published last year, which describes the first y...

By taking an active and creative response to the loss of their son Josh, Jane Harris and husband Jimmy Edmonds have developed fantastic resources for all bereaved parents. Jane joins us on this episode to talk about -amongst other things - the wonderful film A Love That Never Dies , the book When Words are not Enough , and their hugely popular active grief retreats.  This episode is dedicated to J...

In January 2020, Liam Walsh's 15-year old son Patrick went to a football game with his brother and never came home. He collapsed as they dashed for the last train out of Marylebone and died, suddenly, unexpectedly and still, without cause. Two weeks later, Liam's Dad, with his sense of purpose desperately unravelled, gently died too. 'Red Balloons' traces their last months, and how Liam endured th...

Dreading December? Can’t face Christmas? No idea how you are going to manage your grief in the face of all the baubles and cheer? We’re here to try to help you through. Listen to Abi May and Debbie discuss the difficulties of seasonal festivities and suggest a few things that just might help. Resources Living With Loss is Abi’s webpage with details of the retreats and workshops on offer The Compas...

Shushma Jain shares her story of losing her brother Arvind. We’ll find out why siblings are ‘forgotten mourners’ and what Shushma is doing to help other adult siblings to cope with their grief. Resources SLOW Support for Bereaved Parents and Siblings The Dead Sibling Society video podcast Sibling Support mainly for young people Sibs For brothers and sisters of disabled children and adults For more...

Sharron Huddleston has been campaigning for the introduction of a Graduated Driving License Scheme since her daughter Caitlin was killed in a car crash in 2017. Caitlin was the passenger of a driver who had only held a license for 4 months and whose inexperience contributed to the fatal outcome. Here Sharron talks about her lovely daughter, her grief, and her determination to make our roads safer....

Where do you turn when your baby dies? How do you express your loss, connect with others, and find some comfort? What happens when you go on to have a child after loss? Whilst finding a creative outlet for her own grief, Jess reached out and created online spaces for others facing similar challenges. Find out about the Legacy of Leo, #BabyLossHour, Advent to Remember, and the ups and downs of navi...

Dads want to join golf clubs and football clubs. But for those men who find themselves experiencing child loss, Trevor Dwyer-Lynch has set up ‘The Exclusive Club Dad’s Don’t Wanna Belong To’. Today Trevor tells us about how setting up his podcast has given him a way of expressing his own feelings, and hopefully helping other men acknowledge and express theirs. There’s also Buddhism and poetry… Res...

Is work a saviour or a source of anxiety after loss? Whatcan employers do better to support bereaved parents? What happens when you find your job just doesn’t seem to matter any more? How do you work out what to donext? Jillian Bain, a bereaved mum herself and a Career Development Professional from Scotland, talks us through some of the complexities of grief and a return to work, and how we might...

At 25 weeks pregnant, Pete’s wife Gina knew something was wrong. Their concerns unaddressed by health professionals, they suffered the loss of their baby boy Danté. With incredible calm and candour, Pete shares the harrowing series of failures that led to this terrible outcome, and we discuss the glaring health inequalities that black parents face during pregnancy and birth. This episode is dedica...

‘Are you kidding me? I’ve got to go through all this AGAIN?’ Realising your grief hasn’t actually ‘got better’ after the first anniversary of loss can cause absolute despair. The idea of facing another tumultuous year of pain and heartache seems impossible. Claire Louise, author of And Always Annaliese , sharesher story about how she coped with Year 2 and beyond after losing Annaliese in 2018. Wit...

‘Just remember that you're worthy of love. Remember that you're worthy of compassion. You're worthy of having space to laugh.’ To mark National Bereaved Parents Day, Aisha Peters shares her words of hope, and talks of how she has created a Beautiful Vision in her daughter Damali’s name. When Damali died suddenly aged just 3, Aisha had nowhere to turn that offered the safe and culturally appropriat...

When Vicki’s daughter Fi was involved in a road traffic incident, her parents helped to enact her wish to become an organ donor. Vicki talks about that process, and how she finds ‘active grief’ allows her to pursue a happy and fulfilling life without taking away from the sadness of losing Fi. She also tells us about how Fi continues to drive some amazing things that are done in her name, mainly re...

Smothered with kindness or have friends seemingly abandoned you? What is the right thing to do when a child dies? We’re heading off down a different path in this episode, taking a look into research around the ‘should and shouldn’ts’ of grief behaviours in our society, and what that might mean to us specifically as bereaved parents. Our guest is Dr Jennie Dayes, and as well as explaining her resea...

Lynsey lost both of her beautiful children to Batten’s Disease, a rare and complex disease that is always fatal. In this episode, she speaks with grace and compassion about her family’s journey through these terrible losses, and how she is now able to help others facing similar challenges, as a peer befriender.  To find out about the Batten’s Disease Family Association, click here . To buy Poppy’s...

The Library for Bereaved Parents…meet Mary, who runs a fabulous library for The Compassionate Friends, an organisation working across the UK to support bereaved parents. Mary shares her own story of loss and explains how she chooses books for others. She also runs us through some of her favourite and most important book choices. God Is An Octopus , anybody? To find out about The Compassionate Frie...