Cruse Bereavement Support and its counterpart Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland are the United Kingdom's largest

bereavement Grief is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cogniti ...

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

, which provide free care and bereavement counselling to people suffering from grief.

Purpose

Cruse Bereavement Support is the UK's largest charity for bereaved people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a sister organisation in Scotland. Cruse offers face-to-face, group, telephone, email and website support to people after someone close to them has died and works to enhance society's care of bereaved people. Cruse has a freephone national helpline (0808 808 1677) and local services throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Cruse also has a specialist website for young people, hopeagain.org.uk. Cruse services are provided by trained volunteers and are confidential and free. Cruse also provides training and consultancy for organisations and for those who may come into contact with bereaved people in the course of their work

History

Founded in 1959 in

Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

, Cruse has areas and branches across

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. The first branch of Cruse Scotland opened in the late 1960s, and by the mid 1990s there were 28 branches. The name is derived from the Old Testament story of the raising of the son of the widow of Zarephath in which the widow's cruse is caused by the prophet to supply oil.

Operations

Apart from a core of paid staff, based mainly at central office in Richmond upon Thames, services are provided mainly through locally co-ordinated groups, staffed by 5,000 trained volunteers. In 2016/7, Cruse: *Gave one-to-one help to over 30,000 people *Helped over 3000 in groups *Supported over 5,000 children and young people *Responded to nearly 70,000 requests for assistance

Training

As an organisational member of the

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) is a professional body for counsellors and psychotherapists practising in the United Kingdom. History Originally founded in 1977 as the British Association for Counselling, aide ...

, Cruse provides suitable training to all of its 5,000 bereavement support volunteers, following the rigorous code of ethics set out by BACP. Additionally, once certified, an additional 15hrs of additional training is provided per year. External training is also accredited by the National Counselling society. Cruse also provides training and consultancy for external organisations and for those who may encounter bereaved people in the course of their work.

Organisation

*Royal Patrons: Queen Elizabeth II *Patrons: Virginia Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone;

Vincent Nichols Vincent Gerard Nichols (born 8 November 1945) is an English cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He previously served as Archbishop of Birmin ...

, Archbishop of Westminster; Graham James, Lord Bishop of Norwich;

Gisela Stuart Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston (''née'' Gschaider; born 26 November 1955) is a British-German politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1997 to 2017. A former member of the Lab ...

MP; Ann Cryer; Baroness Kramer of Richmond Park; Dame Jo Williams;

Mark Francois Mark Gino Francois (; born 14 August 1965) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford, previously Rayleigh, since the 2001 general election. Francois serve ...

, MP; Lady Hannam *Life President: Colin Murray Parkes, OBE

Management

*Chief Executive: Steven Wibberley *Chief Operating Officer: Andy Langford *Director, Cruse Wales: Janette Bourne *Director, Cruse Northern Ireland: Paul Finnegan

References

External links

Cruse Bereavement SupportCruse Scotland website

Cruse’s support website for young people, HopeAgain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruse Organizations established in 1957 1957 establishments in the United Kingdom Mental health organisations in the United Kingdom Counseling organizations Organisations based in the United Kingdom with royal patronage Charities based in London Organisations based in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames