AtaLoss at 10: Finding Support Through Grief and Bereavement

As the bereavement charity AtaLoss celebrates its tenth anniversary, Mal Pope meets people across Wales whose lives have been changed by the loss of someone they love. From St. Mary's Church in Pontypridd to a hospital in Newport and a community in Crickhowell, he discovers how bereavement support can help people navigate grief.

Charity founder and CEO Yvonne Tulloch explains how the sudden death of her husband, and the shock and sorrow she experienced, prompted her to found the charity to make sure no one feels alone. She's passionate about signposting, and that people, whoever they are or wherever they live, should be able to find the right bereavement support. Today the AtaLoss website connects people with thousands of different support organisations across the country from Cruse Bereavement to Brief Lives Remembered and Barnardos.

In Pontypridd, Reverend Charlotte Rushton runs a seven-week Bereavement Journey course, offering people a safe space to share their experiences and begin to rebuild their lives. Mal hears from Lisa, who found the course helped her cope with the loss of her mother, and Tyler, who turned to bereavement support after the unexpected death of his lifelong best friend by suicide. In Crickhowell, course leader Cathy Richards draws on her own experience of losing her son to cancer to help others navigate their grief.

Mal hears from Douglas Creighton in HMP Edinburgh who reflects on the links he has seen between bereavement and offending and hospital chaplain and charity CEO Dean Roberts explains how we can try to become more comfortable discussing dying and grief.

As the charity AtaLoss marks its tenth anniversary, Mal Pople explores why we find it so difficult to talk about death, and how we can better support those who are grieving.