Anam Cara to host summer face-to-face support meeting for bereaved parents

Anam Cara, a national organisation supporting parents who have experienced the death of a child, will host a face-to-face support group meeting in Hilton Hotel on Malahide Road in Northern Cross.

The organisation will hold their final meeting before adjourning for the summer in North Dublin tomorrow, June 18, and would like to extend a very warm welcome to any bereaved parent in the area.

Anam Cara was founded in 2008 to address gaps in existing bereavement services for parents, as well as a lack of specific information for bereaved parents.

In the past seventeen years, Anam Cara has expanded to fill these gaps, providing peer-to-peer support groups and information evenings, in addition to webinars, podcasts, and remembrance events in locations across the whole of Ireland.

According to the Central Statistics Office, there are 2,000 families per year who experience the loss of a child in Ireland, and emergent research from indicates that parental grief is unique in its complexity and impact on mental, physical, and spiritual health.

Anam Cara provides specialised supports for this distinctively challenging form of grief.

Regardless of the age of the child, circumstances of death, or how recently the death occurred, Anam Cara offers these peer-to-peer support meetings monthly in fourteen locations across the country, free of charge.

Data from the Centre for Crisis Psychology in Norway suggests further that peer supports, like the face-to-face support meeting on 18^th June at the Hilton Hotel in Northern Cross, are a special kind of support, known to reduce social isolation, provide recognition and normalisation of intense grief, and foster hope by meeting parents further on in their grief journey.

“The death of a child is too big for anyone to cope with alone,” one parent shared, “Anam Cara provides access to people who understand, who are on that journey, who will listen. Professionals explain the grief journey. For me it was invaluable.”

This testimony and the experiences of these parents illustrate the deep need and lasting impact of Anam Cara’s services.

A spokesperson from Anam Cara said, “Many bereaved parents find great comfort in being with others who understand the unique grief that comes with the loss of a child.

“These events are designed to give parents an opportunity to access information and support, and to meet others on a similar journey.”

Registration is required to attend the upcoming meeting tomorrow, June 18.

Anam Cara would welcome any bereaved parent in the North Dublin area and surrounds to contact them to register for this free event.

Anam Cara can be contacted on 01 4045378 or by email info@anamcara.ie