As a business we're very aware that planning a funeral is an emotionally draining experience and that families are often managing the expectations of family and friends, while still coming to terms with their own loss. Add to that the time pressure and administrative tasks involved and its little wonder that people might feel in need of a little extra support at this difficult time.
That's why we've teamed up with specialist bereavement service GriefChat to offer our customers instant access to bereavement support when they need it most. Best of all, the service is completely free and can be accessed from 9am to 9pm from Monday to Friday, directly from the GriefChat page on our website.
We first heard about GriefChat while attending the Good Funeral Awards where they were one of the well deserved award winners. Sitting next to founder Catherine Betley (pictured), we were so impressed with the concept and felt that this would be a valuable service to offer to our customers, many of whom are recently bereaved. We are therefore delighted to have launched the service on our website this week, giving our customers instant access to professional bereavement support.
In GriefChat's own words...
"We hope to empower grieving people in understanding that it is a sign of strength, not a weakness to ask for help. At GriefChat we believe that by helping people to recognise and normalise their feelings about loss, it can further help them to make sense of their own grief journey".
GriefChat is a confidential online 'chat based' service and is staffed by a team of specially trained bereavement counsellors. It is not an automated 'chat bot' so users can rest assured that they will be communicating with a real, highly trained person and not with a machine. GriefChat counsellors are experienced in supporting bereaved people and will listen to your story, explore how your grief is affecting you and help you to find any additional support that you might need.
To access the service, simply head over to our GriefChat page where you can use the chat box at the bottom of the page.
The service is free of charge and operates from 9am to 9pm Monday to Friday and by email outside of these hours.