PRESS RELEASE

1st December 2020

Leading UK children’s bereavement charity has been chosen as one of only 100 charities to receive funding from the Barclays 100×100 UK COVID-19 Community Relief Fund.

Their largest ever single donation to date, children’s bereavement charity, Grief Encounter, is thrilled to announce the £100,000 grant from the Barclays Community Relief Fund.

The fund focuses on supporting charity partners who are meeting the immediate needs of people in UK communities, including bereaved and isolated families, children and young people. Grief Encounter plan to use the funding to extend and facilitate their remote, open-access bereavement services for those who have experienced the death of someone close.
It is estimated that over 250,000 people in the UK are currently suffering with grief as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and unable to access traditional methods of support. Grief Encounter provide a lifeline for bereaved young people and their families, offering a range of bespoke therapeutic services to mitigate against the isolation and negative outcomes of adolescent bereavement. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Grief Encounter has transferred all of their services online, focusing on providing immediate support and advice via their national freephone helpline, grieftalk. They are also utilizing e-counselling, online grief groups and telephone check-in services to regularly keep in touch with clients, and make sure they continue to receive grief support, even in lockdown. Grieftalk, Grief Encounter’s helpline, has received a 97% uplift in calls since March 2020, supporting families newly bereaved by Covid-19, and also those who have been unable to continue to see their counsellors due to lockdown restrictions. They have also extended their helpline reach to all frontline key workers, and all those impacted by grief as a result of Covid-19.

Harold Gittelmon, Chairman of Trustees for Grief Encounter, comments “The pandemic has meant adapting our services and bereavement model to ensure we can continue to support those who so desperately need us in these challenging times; Grief doesn’t stop, and neither will we. This incredible donation from Barclays Community Fund, ensures we can continue providing our essential helpline and online therapeutic services to all those impacted by grief, across the nation. This is our single largest donation to date, at a time when we need it most, and on behalf of Grief Encounter and the families we support, we’d like to thank Barclays.”

As one of only 100 charities successful in securing a donation, Grief Encounter hope that this incredible donation will benefit many of those suffering in isolation, allowing them to connect online with a professional counsellor, and each other, reducing the isolation that is being felt so acutely across the nation.

Nigel Higgins, Barclays Chairman, said: “COVID-19 has created an unprecedented social and economic impact in the UK, with many experiencing greater hardship due to the crisis. Incredible charities, such as Grief Encounter have been playing a vital role in the UK’s response to the pandemic, ensuring urgent help reaches those most in need of support. As a bank we have been doing all we can for our customers, clients and colleagues, and we hope that by partnering with Grief Encounter and many other charities across the UK, collectively we can ensure that as many people as possible in the communities in which we live and work are supported through this crisis.”

-ENDS-

For more information and to request spokesperson comment, please contact our Press Officer:
sam@griefencounter.org.uk
07944 398 474

Find out more about Grief Encounter

About Barclays’ UK Charity Partners
Barclays £100m COVID-19 Community Aid Package is supporting charities that are helping vulnerable people impacted by COVID-19, and the associated social and economic hardship caused by the crisis. Alongside matching colleague donations and fundraising efforts, Barclays is partnering with a number of charities in the UK, Americas, Asia and Europe, delivering help where it is needed most. You can find the latest list of charity partners here.
For media queries, please contact: Lisa Webb, Head of Regional Corporate Relations – 07775 548426 lisa.webb@barclays.com