Yorkshire charity Brake supports the bereaved who have lost loved ones to Covid

A service set up to support the suddenly-bereaved during the Covid-19 pandemic has been backed by Barclays so that it can continue to help those in the early days of grief.
Huddersfield-based charityBrakefounded its Sudden service earlier this year after noticing a gap where people losing loved ones had little access to support in the first 10 weeks.Huddersfield-based charityBrakefounded its Sudden service earlier this year after noticing a gap where people losing loved ones had little access to support in the first 10 weeks.
Huddersfield-based charityBrakefounded its Sudden service earlier this year after noticing a gap where people losing loved ones had little access to support in the first 10 weeks.

Huddersfield-based charity Brake founded its Sudden service earlier this year after noticing a gap where people losing loved ones had little access to support in the first 10 weeks.

It comes from years of the charity's expertise in helping people bereaved by road accidents.

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Louise Vale, Development Manager at the charity, said the service is supporting those who have lost loved ones to Covid-19, as well as other sudden deaths such as heart attacks, work-related accidents or suicide.

It is currently operating a helpline and allocating case workers to help people with the administrative tasks that follow a loved one's death, as well as emotional support to get through the initial stages of grief.

Ms Vale said: "At the start of the pandemic we identified a gap in support for the early days of when people are bereaved, especially when they're bereaved suddenly and unexpectedly. It causes shock ad disruption in people's lives, especially in the circumstances of a pandemic.

"We have individual case workers who stay with them for those initial 10 weeks helping them with whatever they need help with, whether that's their GP or other admin. They may need help with childcare if it's a parent that's been lost.

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"We also provide emotional support because it takes a long time for people to adjust to life without that person they love, especially when we can't hug one another or visit relatives right now."

The initial set up of the Sudden service was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, but has now received £100,000 from Barclays bank as part of its drive to fund organisations supporting communities and people affected by the coronavirus crisis.

Social distancing restrictions around the number of people able to attend funerals has also exacerbated the grieving process during the pandemic, as many relatives have been unable to say goodbye to their loved ones or have had to attend virtually.

Brake currently has 21 case workers, both full-time and part-time, dedicated to the service and is receiving between 40 and 50 new cases a week, with approximately 600-700 people who have been supported so far.

It has the capacity to help around 2,000 people.

"We think that the need for the service will go up," Ms Vale added.

"Demand has been increasing and I imagine it will continue to do so beyond the pandemic."