Edinburgh-based charity Richmond's Hope gets new funding to expand work with bereaved children

An Edinburgh-based charity which helps children cope with bereavement has been awarded £75,000 funding from a trust.
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Richmond’s Hope was co-founded by the Rev Liz Henderson, minister of Richmond Craigmillar Church of Scotland, and local resident Jessie Douglas, whose son was killed in a motorcycle accident, after they became aware of the impact of grief on a number of children in their community.

One in 29 children is affected by the death of a parent or sibling by the age of 16. Most of the charity’s clients are aged between eight and 12.

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Fundraising and training officer Rebecca Amiel said the two-and-a-half years since the start of Covid had seen an increase demand for Richmond’s Hope’s services.

She said: "We work with any child who has been adversely affected by grief. Anyone can refer a child to us and children over 16 can refer themselves. The service is very much based on the child's needs and development and what their interests are. We explore their feelings and memories and provide them with coping strategies. We are always on the end of the phone for them, but we do realise that we need to give children coping strategies because they will have other deaths in their lives and have to learn to live with their grief."

The money from the Robertson Trust – £25,000 a year for the next three years – will be used by the charity’s West of Scotland team to help employ an additional support worker, allowing some 45 more children to be supported each year.

Richmond's Hope chief executive the Rev Dr Martin Scott said: "For a small charity like this, anything that gives you guaranteed funding for more than a year is terrific for us and will make a big difference. Working with Richmond's Hope is undoubtedly the most interesting and rewarding piece of work I have ever done. You actually see the difference it makes to children's lives, so it is a great privilege to be involved and I think our support workers, who are the core staff, just do marvellous work. It's a very challenging job."

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