New walking groups launched for bereaved parents
WALKING TOGETHER: A Fitmums & Friends walking group session
By Simon Bristow
A specialist healthcare team from Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham is teaming up with Fitmums & Friends to help support bereaved parents.
Castle Hill Hospital’s Teenage and Young Adults Cancer Service, part of the Teenage Cancer Trust, will join forces with the charity to launch ‘LiLY Walks’ later this month.
The ‘LiLY’ in LiLY Walks stands for Lives Lost Young. The idea is to provide parents who have lost a child or young person, in any way or at any age, with the opportunity to meet others like them and enjoy some gentle outdoor exercise at the same time.
SUPPORT: The team from Castle Hill’s Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Service, from left, Charlene Kent, Claire Swift, and Vic Walsh
Claire Swift, clinical nurse specialist for the Teenage and Young Adults Cancer Team said: “Helping families affected by bereavement is a sad but inevitable part of our job. The loss of any loved one can be difficult to cope with, but losing a child or a young person to cancer or indeed in any other way can be especially hard because their lives have been so short; parents always expect their children to outlive them.
“Speaking to some of the parents we work with in recent months, we felt there would be a real benefit in giving people the chance to meet and talk with other people who have been in the same position and know exactly what they’re going through. We’re really looking forward to launching our new venture with Fitmums and Friends, which now means parents have that opportunity and can also take in some fresh air and gentle exercise at the same time.”
The first LiLY Walk will take place at 6.30pm on Wednesday, June 14, meeting at Beverley Rugby Union Club on Norwood in Beverley. Distances of one to three miles will be available, with a drink and biscuit in the clubhouse afterwards. Walks will then take place at the same venue on the second Wednesday of the month each month thereafter.
‘POSITIVE IMPACT’: Fitmums and Friends founder Sam Barlow BEM
Sam Barlow BEM, chief officer and founder of Fitmums and Friends, says: “We feel honoured to be working with the Teenage and Young Adults Cancer Service to create this new means of support as part of our wider Together In Grief programme.
“We want to help anyone struggling with grief through activity and the chance to connect with others who may share a similar experience. We see the positive impact of bringing bereaved people together through our work, and we hope so much that we can extend this support even further through our new LiLY Walks.”
For more information or to register for the first of the LiLY Walks on Wednesday, June 14, email heather@fitmums.org.uk or call 07870 654586.