Norfolk funeral home launches suicide support training
A suicide bereavement support course has been launched by a Norfolk funeral home.
Rosedale Funeral Home is launching the course to provide specialist training for blue light services, counsellors, funeral directors, and other health professionals that support those bereaved through suicide.
The director of the home, Anne Beckett-Allen, is calling on more funeral homes across the UK to make specialist resources more readily available to support families affected by suicide, as well as ensure that staff are equipped with the skills to offer practical and emotional support to these families through “knowledge, understanding and resources”.
Beckett-Allen said: “As funeral directors, we are one of the first people that a family contact after a loss and it is important that we are able to listen and communicate non-judgmentally, use appropriate language and not make assumptions.
“Since the Norfolk Survivors of Bereavement through Suicide closed, there is very little specialist support out there for the adults, which makes it even more crucial that professionals up their game and have good resources available and that staff have the knowledge and skills that they need to plug the gap in support.”
She added: “At Rosedale we believe that everyone bereaved or affected by suicide should be offered timely and appropriate support.
“As well as resources available on our website and in our children’s book baskets, we have available a complimentary book called Help is at Hand to give to families to help them cope with their bereavement and we want to encourage other professionals to order in supplies of this booklet and have it freely available and be ready to hand it out.”