Funeral group expands its free bereavement service

Dorset’s Douch Family Funeral Directors has expanded its free bereavement group sessions to a further three branches.

Due to the increased number of people attending its Ferndown meetings the company has now launched the service at its branches in Swanage, Wareham and Blandford. Anyone living with bereavement is invited to book themselves on one of the sessions that lasts for about an hour and a half.

They are led by Cindy Weller, a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and a member of the National Counselling Society (NCS) and the sessions are open to anyone in the community.

The meetings are held monthly in Ferndown at the Royal British Legion and in Blandford at the parish council offices. The monthly Purbeck groups meet alternately at the libraries in Swanage and Wareham.

Emma Regan, community liaison officer at Douch Family Funeral Directors, said: “We launched our first group in Ferndown without knowing what demand there would be. However, it has been such a success that we have expanded into other branches. We were motivated to offer this free service because of our experience with funerals.

“Often we could tell by dealing with the bereaved that they might benefit from some counselling. All the groups are held in the first week of the month. Due to restrictions on numbers people just have to call the branch to book themselves in.”

The Wareham group is being supported by the Albert Marsh branch and in Swanage the James Smith branch is supporting the sessions.