Wathall's launches new bereavement service for employers

Funeral directors Wathall’s has launched a new service to help employers better understand and support colleagues who have lost a loved one.

The new online training programme has been developed by the Wathall’s bereavement support and counselling team and is run by the company’s trained facilitators.

The 90-minute training explains the grief journey and provides practical advice and support to enable employers to give their staff the validation and space they need to come to terms with their loss and better cope with their work and home life.

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It is the latest addition to Wathall’s Dandelions Bereavement Support programme, which already provides a wide range of services in the local communities that the company serves in Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

Helen Wathall MBE is the fifth generation of her family to head the company and spearheaded Dandelions Bereavement Support, in part due to her own experiences of bereavement.

She said: “Unfortunately, grief affects everyone at some point in their lives and according to a 2019 study, 72% of people in Britain have been bereaved in the last five years.

“That figure is now obviously rising due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as restricted access to treatment and early diagnosis of other illnesses.

“People express and cope with grief in different ways but there are a lot of common factors and emotions, which people share throughout their grief journey.

“The purpose of the training is, therefore, to provide management teams with the knowledge and confidence to support bereaved staff and colleagues, both effectively and empathetically.

“This is obviously about duty of care in the workplace but there is also a business benefit as employees are far more likely to return to full productivity far quicker if they receive the right understanding and support.”

For more information please contact Wathall’s Bereavement Support Coordinator, Fay Bloor, on 01332 345268 or e-mail fay.bloor@wathalls.co.uk.