I welcome another opportunity to let you know about our work and how it has continued and
developed over the past year. Many thanks to Raksha, Valerie, Carole, Jo, Tinu, Richard, our
staunch Management Committee, our Supervisors Carole, Jacqui, Rohini and Valerie and
above all our dedicated volunteers without whom we could not provide this valuable service.
One to One Counselling and support
Over 8000 hours of one to one sessions were provided over the year- a substantial increase on
last year. This is the backbone of our services and continues to give bereaved people the
personal support they deserve. With the development of our assessments procedure our
clients now get the opportunity to further request their individual needs.
Service for people with learning disabilities
Two years of research and development of a service for this client group has now been
completed. Following an evaluation by Sue Read, the outcomes will soon be published by the
Kings Fund. Although we know there is a need for this support, continuation funding has been
difficult to obtain. Therefore the furtherance of this service remains uncertain.
Training
We continue to provide training on a regular basis for our volunteers, teachers, health
professionals, voluntary sectorworkers and social services personnel. This work gives us the
opportunity to develop awareness of bereavement issues in the local community and beyond,
maintaining our aim to educate others of the needs of bereaved people.
Drop In Centre
86 people were given instant support and advice by specially trained volunteers at this weekly
service for those in distress.
Panda Group
Tinu Thomas continues to develop this group, which regularly acquires new members who
gain information on personal safety, local community issues, holistic therapies and other
important subjects from invited speakers. The members also go on outings to museums,
theatres and local cultural events. In addition, there are regular sessions where members can
talk about their feelings.
Cultural diversity
Our service certainly reflects our strong Equal Opportunities Policy. Volunteers, staff and
Management Committee Members mirror the many different ethnic minorities of Brent, which
means we can allocate our clients to a volunteer who will understand their culture and their
customs. Brent has a considerable number of refugees and asylum seekers we have
provided significant help to this group of people who often suffer multiple and tragic losses.
I look forward to developing our services further by providing regular training for all those
working with bereaved people and increasing the number of volunteers to provide additional
counselling and support. There is also the challenge of managing the Bereavement Services
for Hounslow and developing their services for adults and later for children and young people.
Paulo Pimentel