Listening to Loss

As part of a pilot project involving Space to Breathe working with Compassionate Sheffield and DiverseCity Development Trust, four events have taken place across Sheffield called Listening to Loss. These events were free and across the city.

These events provided creative and safe support for those struggling with bereavement but also asked people to express feelings and wishes for ways to mark loss in a better and more appropriate way. Are there resources in your local community that you access for support? Is there any support that you wish was available to help you with loss or bereavement?

The space looked something like these photos below:

LISTENING TO LOSS PROJECT REPORT

These findings and ideas have now been compiled into a 20 page project report with responses analysed and with seven main recommendations.

  1. Support should be designed around cultural context

  2. Emotional preparation for death should be considered

  3. Review of how people access ‘services’

  4. Do not forget where more deaths happened during COVID-19

  5. Supporting key community figures

  6. Consider that grief is often collective

  7. Mind the gaps - support is designed around the journey.

Whilst the experience of death and loss is something we all have in common, the ways in which people access support has a cultural footprint. By investing some targeted time, energy and resource, we have an opportunity to address inequalities and the inequity of access to support, during this important part of life.

We have published this report with this aim in mind and you can download it below.

We are also going to be running a face to face workshop on 28th June from 2pm to discuss the report and ways we can work together to find solutions. We’d love to invite you to this conversation. Details are below.

Lastly if you’d like to feedback any thoughts or comments on the report, you can email info@spacetobreatheuk.com and we’d love to hear what you think.

further photos and video from the events

Project partners are Space to Breathe and DiverseCity Development Trust and we are grateful to Compassionate Sheffield for enabling and partnering in this project.