Let's Talk About Loss

Incredibly proud that the short film we are the charity partner for is now streaming on Disney+ 🥳 It's so amazing to see this fantastic film about grief on a major platform - hopefully helping encourage more people to talk openly about loss. Huge well done to the whole team, including Tom Stuart, Max Marlow, Elettra Pizzi De Gaetano and Kay Loxley 👏

Grief breaks your heart wide open 💔 The loss of our baby has opened my heart in ways I’d never imagined. First came the heart break. Visceral, painful, deep despairing sadness and hopelessness. The raw exposed heart now more sensitive than ever. Grief gives you a laser sharp presence, perception and sensitivity to everything. It’s very strong. It’s like living life in HD with surround sound. Grief isn’t just sadness. It’s a whole colour wheel of emotions that emerge in the cavity of the broken heart. Anger, jealousy, envy, fear, guilt, anxiety, gratitude, love. I try my best to sit with them all, sift through them, welcome them - even the dark and unpleasant feelings like jealousy. Underneath them all is pure, unbridled love that is coursing through us all. To grieve deeply is to love wholeheartedly. ---- Practices that have been supporting me: - therapy 🗣 - writing ✍🏼 - walking in nature 🌲 - yoga 🧘🏻♂️ - gym 🏋🏼♀️ - watching fantasy films (bc they take you to another world) 🎬 - connecting with friends ✋🏼 ---- I'm writing about mental health, grief, baby loss, men and masculinity every day on LinkedIn ♻️

We are hosting two community-wide meetings on disability and we would love to see you there! The first meeting (Tuesday 3rd December, 6 - 7.30pm) is specifically for UK deaf, disabled and neurodivergent grievers aged 18-35 (inside and outside of the Let's Talk About Loss community) and will focus on disabled members' priorities for the kinds of intersectional community, advocacy and support we want to make happen. The second meeting (Tuesday 10th December, 6 - 7.30pm) is specifically for Let's Talk About Loss Hosts and Host Coordinators and will focus on what ableism is, how Hosts can connect with our Accessibility Advisory Board and advice and resources for running disability-inclusive meet ups. Both events will be on Zoom, with live auto-captions and auto-transcript, BSL interpreters, slides and notes to share. Despite the suggested audiences for each event, both sessions are open to anyone and you are so welcome to join one or both events. You don't have to RSVP, but if you would like to, here's the link: https://lnkd.in/e3n9SYq5

A huge thank you to Yvonne Maher who kindly allowed Beth French and Nina Carter-Brown to spend a day working in person and planning our 2025-28 strategy at the Cognito office in London. We've blurred out the top secret plans but they are VERY exciting 👀 Good things to come for Let's Talk About Loss - thank you to all our wonderful supporters who make it happen for us ❤️

A wonderful Exeter meet-up tonight facilitating a safe space for grievers age 18-35 - a meet up full of connecting, sharing stories, talking about grief & most importantly laughter! I love my little volunteering role! 🫶🏻 Let's Talk About Loss

👋 Hello my name is Yas, and I’m grieving my mum and dad…. isn’t quite how I usually introduce myself to new people. 🎯But when our goal is to help less people feel alone through their grief - it is. 🏹Today was the first Let's Talk About Loss big meet up that I’ve had the privilege of volunteering at. And blimey, what a day! It was super emotional, but absolutely fantastic. It was amazing to be in a room filled with such brave people, and listen to their stories. ✨In true spirit of the poetry workshop we had, I’m going to explain why I volunteer, with a metaphor I heard today. ‘I hope to provide shade to those suffering with the heat of grief’ 💗Thank you Beth and everyone involved for arranging such a great meet up, I’ll look forward to the next one.

I came across this article a few weeks ago, and it's really stuck with me. Moya Sarner articulates how the job of those working in the grief space is not to 'take away' people's pain, but to 'help them feel it'. That the problem is not so much the grief, but when grief gets pushed down and shut out. That's when we get stuck, when we feel disconnected, when we get ill. In her own words: "I was so preoccupied with trying to hold everything together, I lost touch with my own need to fall apart [...] It might be a person, a relationship or a dream that has died, but if we scroll or drug or literally run away from our feelings, the result is the same: we’re trapped. Without loss, without grief, there can be no growth." So instead of asking, how do I get rid of this feeling? Can you get curious about grief, look it in the eye, let yourself feel it? Not because we want to be consumed by the pain, but so that it lessens it's hold on us, so that we can grow through it. (It feels important to acknowledge that sometimes we're not ready, or don't have the support or resources to approach grief in a way that feels safe and manageable. Be curious, but don't force it. You're not failing if you're not able to face it, this stuff is hard.)

77% of 18- to 34-year-olds say they would consider leaving their job if their employer didn’t support them after the loss of a loved one. It’s a staggering statistic, but it raises an important question: who wants to work for an organisation that doesn’t stand by them during life’s toughest moments? What does your organisation have in place to support bereaved employees? #EmployeeWellbeing #CompassionateLeadership

A statement from Let’s Talk About Loss in response to the racist and Islamophobic riots happening in the UK The racist and Islamophobic riots seen in the UK over the last week are horrifying and heartbreaking. These far-right protesters are displaying disgusting behaviour fuelled by Islamophobia and anti-migrant hatred. We know that many people are terrified right now. It is the time to check in on your Muslim, Black, people of colour, refugee and asylum seeker friends. We are also angry that the grief of the families of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice Dasilva Aguiar and Bebe King has been so cruelly hijacked and our thoughts are with their loved ones as they come to terms with their devastating losses, and for all those harmed and living with trauma from the attacks. The immediate hijacking and politicisation of the deaths of three children will almost certainly have been triggering for many people who have experienced something similar, and our thoughts are with you too. At Let’s Talk About Loss, our first value is safe, and we seek to ensure safety as the foundation of all our spaces. We invest heavily in equity and inclusion work: developing our Racial Equity Advisory Board, training our volunteers, staff and Trustees, and creating a culture of inclusion across all of our work. We also offer bereavement counselling support for our volunteers and meet in inclusive public spaces for our meet ups. Today, we have emailed everyone who works with Let’s Talk About Loss to deliver our grief support, to check in with them, send our love and support, and to support them with postponing or moving online any upcoming meet ups, so that we can keep everyone safe. We have shared practical support and signposted accounts which are doing excellent work right now, including Instagram accounts @muslimgirl and @kidsofcolourhq. Our meet ups are safe spaces for all young grievers, but racism will never be tolerated and anyone sharing racist or Islamophobic views will never be welcome with us, and we’ve reminded our team how we can support them to uphold the safety and security of our spaces. We add our voice to those calling on the UK government to act strongly against this violence and racism. It is completely unacceptable and goes against everything we stand for at Let’s Talk About Loss. As always, anyone aged 18-35 who is grieving is welcome at our meet ups, and if you would like to speak to us about coming along to a meet up, whether it is safe and how we can protect you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Beth French, Director, and the Trustees of Let’s Talk About Loss