The Winston’s Wish National Helpline provides support, information and guidance to all those concerned about a bereaved child or young person. It is staffed by practitioners with extensive experience, who have up-to-date knowledge of supporting bereaved children and their families. Why is this project needed? There are estimated to be just under half a million children up to the age of 18 living in the UK who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. All of these children and young people will need the support, in some form, of an adult such as a parent, carer, teacher, social worker, doctor or police liaison officer. Often, these adults find themselves in completely alien territory, where they can feel at a loss to know the best way to support the child or young person. "Andrew calls about his daughter Kate, aged 13. Andrew is exhausted and is really struggling after his partner’s long illness and recent death. He said he is at his wit’s end. He feels Kate can’t love him or her mother because she doesn’t ever want to talk about her and slams out of the room at the slightest provocation. Andrew’s voice shakes throughout the call – he is afraid that Kate will begin to ‘get into trouble’ with drugs or drink." Adults can find it difficult to talk with children about death, often because they are dealing with their own grief, but also because they are fearful of upsetting the child. Experience has shown us that when adults try to ‘protect’ children by withholding information, the child will typically fill the gaps with their own vivid imaginations; commonly blaming themselves and worrying what has become of the person who died. What impact does the project make? Our Helpline provides an invaluable resource for all adults faced with the daunting and difficult task of navigating a child’s grief. By helping the concerned adult making the call to feel more confident in their abilities to support a bereaved child, we will in turn enable the adult to better support the bereaved child or young person through their journey of grief. Anonymity, immediacy and accessibility are some of the advantages of the Helpline. A 20-minute call to a trained and experienced child bereavement practitioner can be a lifeline to a person struggling to know the best way to support a bereaved child and may well revolutionise the caller’s approach to responding to the grieving child’s needs. “I came off the phone and thought for the first time – I can do this. I felt understood and confident to be there for my children.” Who are the beneficiaries? Our helpline now supports around 3,000 families and professionals every year, benefiting an estimated 6,000 children. The callers are from all over the UK and are typically from family members or friends seeking advice and guidance on how best to support a bereaved child. However, roughly 30% are from professionals such as teachers, social workers and doctors. The enclosed case study provides an overview of the type of calls our Helpline receives.