- The Guardian,
- Wednesday December 14, 2005
Jonathan France was only eight when his father Martin died suddenly from a heart attack while out jogging. His death, at the age of 42, came as a shock to his family as the computer scientist from Oxfordshire had been fit and healthy with no history of heart trouble. But whenever France's mother Lisa, 43, tried to talk to her son about the death she got nowhere.
Today, thanks to the Oxfordshire children's bereavement charity SeeSaw, France and his mother and his younger brother, Matthew, are able to share their family memories and talk openly about the tragedy.
Lisa France, who lives in Abingdon, says: "With help from SeeSaw, the boys each made a memory box about Martin and now sometimes they sit down with me and show me what's in them. We still cry, but it's become easier. We are more comfortable about it all."
Jonathan is one of around 800 children aged between six and 18 who have benefited from the support of SeeSaw since it was set up five years ago.
The charity's team of nine trained volunteer support workers estimate that they help 20 children a week who either have a parent or sibling approaching death or who are bereaved.
The volunteers use talk and play to help these youngsters come to terms with their grief. The charity also employs a paid school support worker, who has so far visited 250 schools throughout Oxfordshire, giving advice to teachers on how to help a bereaved child when they return to the classroom after a family death. A training pack for schools has also been developed.
Rosie Nicol-Harper, director of the charity, says: "For some children, the support they need may be only once or twice, but for others it may be that we see them once or twice a week for a year. To be able to offer that kind of flexibility is very rare."
The Guardian Charity Award gives the local charity welcome national recognition, but Nicol-Harper says it also creates the chance to highlight the need for a nationwide children's bereavement service. She says: "This award means a huge amount to us - it is recognition to say that you have crafted together an important and worthwhile charity. But it also raises the profile in the public mind for the need for this kind of service all over the country."
SeeSaw intends to spend its £6,000 prize money 0n training a new group of volunteer support workers, boosting its numbers to around 15.
"The more support workers we have, the more flexible we can be in terms of offering a service," Nicol-Harper says. " The prize money will just about cover the cost of training six new support workers."
The computer prize will also make a considerable difference. Nicol-Harper points out: "In a small organisation, it is always difficult to justify spending money from donations on computers. But, on the other hand, to be able to run an effective service we need to be able to communicate, which we can do if we have a reliable computer system."
