Bereavement Support Group Report 2006

The Stanmore Bereavement Support Group is functioning well. It is now a year and a half since we started. We have 7 members. Fatima Virani and Zeenat Datoo are joint co-ordinators of the group. We make the initial contact with all bereaved people and keep it open to them to let us visit them.

We have been corporate members of Harrow Churches since last year and it has been very beneficial. The membership includes free training and discounted rates for their conference as well as sharing experiences with other Group Leaders on a regular basis. The membership fee £200. With their help and support we have been able to set up the group and are able to function very well.

As a bereavement visiting group it is essential that we have supervision sessions. We have our supervision sessions every 6 weeks with a professional counsellor who has a special interest in Bereavement. These sessions are found to be very useful. Because we are a voluntary organisation and all members of the Bereavement Support Group are providing their services on a voluntary basis, the professional counsellor charges us a very nominal amount of £30.00 for a 2 hour session.

We have found that more people could take advantage of the voluntary service that is provided to the community. As it is a new concept, we have advertised in the Jamaat newsletter and have also given a talk outlining our role during the Muharram programme.

Khawateen