At the onset of the pandemic one of our main concerns was the wellbeing of our beneficiaries. Suspending the Rainbow groups, trips and activities meant we would be unable to achieve our aim to facilitate contact between bereaved children and families. Without the groups, we knew that communicating and supporting our beneficiaries would be a challenge, coupled with the understanding of how grief can create feelings of loneliness and isolation. So we reached out to Arthur Ellis to investigate how we could address this issue.

We trialled mental health and wellbeing sessions, offered directly to the beneficiaries, whether it be the main parent/carer, a child or even a group session. Throughout lockdown 1, 90 assessments and sessions were conducted resulting in positive outcomes for the families engaging with the service.

We were so pleased with the positive impact these sessions had that Therapeutic Mentoring has become one of our permanent services.

With completion of a short referral form, families can be assessed within a week and matched to a mentor.