Help Following a Suicide

We have some understanding of just how devastating losing someone to suicide can be and please accept our heartfelt condolences. We recognise that grief is carried with you forever, so no matter where you are in your grief journey, we hope we can offer you some support.

Whilst counselling services aren’t something that The OLLIE Foundation provides, we do offer support in a couple of other ways.

In the later phase of a grief journey, you may wish to explore a private session called ‘Write to Release‘. It’s as you might imagine: we provide a safe space for people to share, with themselves, their most difficult emotions – their fury, anger, abandonment… those emotions that are completely valid but may not feel comfortable to express. Through a range of activities, we symbolically let go of those feelings and then spend the rest of the session remembering those values and attributes of the loved ones who have died and the precious memories that the bereaved want to carry forward.

We also are available to talk about suicide. It can be so very hard to make sense of things, but we have helped many understand the nature of suicide and that, in some cases, you can be the nearest and dearest and not see any signs, that your love was never in doubt and that you were not abandoned, but their pain overwhelmed them and they felt everyone would ultimately be better off if they were no longer around.

If you would like an opportunity to talk about your bereavement, please do take a look at our upcoming events page where grief cafes and talks will be listed when programmed. Alternatively, email contactus@theolliefoundation.org.

Help for you and others

We all deal with grief in our own way and thankfully there are many incredible organisations and resources dedicated to providing bereavement support that OLLIE is confident to signpost our community to.

Organisations

  • Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS) They have groups across the UK run by volunteers – They provide a safe space where anyone who has been affected by a loss to suicide can go to talk/listen without fear of judgment.
  • At A Loss This is a charity committed to ensuring bereaved people get the support they need, whenever they need it. They provide a unique website for finding local and appropriate bereavement support services and information.
  • CHUMS This charity offers a suicide bereavement service in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
  • The New Normal They offer peer-to-peer support, helping people through life’s difficult moments by facilitating conversations between individuals who find themselves in very similar positions.

Support groups

Helpful resources