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Winston's Wish
About Winston's Wish | One Morning | Camp Winston | Julie Stokes |
Winston's Wish run regular Camp Winston weekends for 5 to 18-year-olds. Practical and creative activities encourage teamwork, building confidence and self-esteem. This sets the scene for participants to begin sharing their own stories, to untangle and express a range of feelings, increase their knowledge about death and to continue their own personal journeys towards understanding grief. The groupwork reduces the isolation that's frequently felt by bereaved children so they can meet other children who can understand what they've been going through.
Who can go?
Camp Winston is for any child bereaved of a parent or sibling in Gloucestershire. Places are also available to families outside of the county, subject to funding. Families are usually invited to attend at least six months or so after the death, although some attend years after. Each camp, in the beautiful surroundings of the Wilderness Centre in the Forest of Dean, can sleep up to 50 people, which allows it to accommodate up to 25 children, plus professional staff and highly-trained volunteers.
A simultaneous, but non-residential, weekend for parents and carers runs parallel to the children's weekends. This programme has a dual focus – firstly, on parents' and carers' own bereavement and secondly, on how to support their grieving children.
What happens on the weekends?
From 9am on the Saturday to 6pm on the Sunday, there is a busy, well-prepared schedule. First, the children get to know each other and gain their trust before 'telling their story' about how the person in the family died.
Throughout the weekend the children are encouraged to find ways to remember the person who has died and to develop strategies to cope, both now and in the future. Games and fun activities are carefully planned into the programme to achieve a balance for everyone. Laughter, tears, and frustration are equally encouraged and contained.
During the weekend, there is a whole plethora of activities and opportunities for children to open up and communicate their grief, including:
- Children get the chance to pose questions to a doctor who can explain issues in a child-centred, accessible way.
- In the candlelight ceremony after supper, children are given the chance to remember the person who has died and to connect with some of the deep feelings of sadness that have rarely surfaced outside of the group environment.
- Children create a jar of memories to associate with and reflect on the person who has died.
- The 'bearaduation' reunites parents with their children, and formally acknowledges the achievements of families taking part in the weekend.
- Finally, the reunited families release a helium-filled balloon with a message for the person who has died and a wish for the future.
For more details, either contact the Winston's Wish helpline on 08452 03 04 05 or go to www.winstonswish.org.uk.
Download the Winston's Wish booklet As Big As It Gets
About Winston's Wish | One Morning | Camp Winston | Julie Stokes |
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