The idea of setting up a service for bereaved children came in 2002 whilst I was working as an Educational Psychologist in Kent. During my absence on compassionate leave following the death of my son Daniel, a letter had arrived from a Secondary School Senco in Maidstone asking if I could support a group of teenagers who were experiencing difficulties with learning, behaviour and peer relationships. All of these pupils had experienced at least one significant bereavement. I worked with this group over a number of weeks and the positive outcomes for those young people planted the seed of setting up a charity.
A few months later I worked with the Senco of a primary school to support a group of bereaved pupils. The two days of activities we offered the children in school clearly demonstrated that bringing together groups of bereaved children can make a real difference. This was the start of my family’s journey to set up the charity, Slide Away.
During 2003, my husband, Terry, and I met with some established bereavement services. Sometimes we came away inspired and at other times we came away overwhelmed. With advice from Alison Penny of the Childhood Bereavement Network in London, we moved forward. With the support of friends, family and colleagues, we formed a steering group and Slide Away began supporting bereaved children in 2004; we went on to receive charitable status in 2005.
Grief is a normal reaction to the death of someone you love, but as a bereaved adult, I have experienced how it can affect mental and physical health. I had also seen how grief had affected the children and young people I had met. With Slide Away, I wanted to draw on my personal and professional experience to support bereaved children and young people and I wanted to help schools be more aware of their needs and feel confident in their support for them. Involving schools in Slide Away’s work would also assist with our communication with families; and so the role of the School Bereavement Contact (SBC) was created to build a bridge between our service and their bereaved pupils. Our SBCs continue to be as vital and important to our work today as they were in 2004.
Slide Away, by Oasis, was the song choice of my son, Matthew for Daniel’s funeral; it was a piece of music associated with a video of a sport they were both passionate about - snowboarding. Choosing a name for a charity is not easy, but the link to Daniel’s love of the mountains was important to my family. And so we chose the name ‘Slide Away’ for the charity. Looking through Daniel’s photos of his snowboarding trips, I came across one with the caption ‘30 minute hike for 5 minute ride.’ This is how grief can feel: after a long hike up a mountain, just when you feel you are starting to cope with your grief and all the related emotions so that life feels manageable, down you slide. However, the feeling after that long hike before you slide, helps you find the resilience and determination to climb again. The words Slide Away, as shown in our logo, represent such a slide down after a hard climb, before the climb starts afresh.
