Jeremiah’s Journey is a bereavement charity providing age-appropriate therapeutic interventions for children and young people based in Plymouth and the surrounding areas. They provide emotional and practical support for bereaved children, young people and their families and those who are expecting a death of someone special. The currently support over 700 children and young people a year with the wider family benefit extending to 2000 people annually.
The charity’s aim is to reduce prolonged and traumatic distress after bereavement, believing that no child or young person should be alone in their grief, their hope is that those using the service can face the future with the skills necessary to continue to enjoy their lives more fully, with grief being one manageable part of their life, and not their sole focus
Jeremiah’s Journey are the only organisation in Plymouth and the immediate surrounding area offering this support. Their work has proven to deliver better health and well-being, better school attendance, improved sleep, and better overall mental health to over 6000 children since the charity started its work started in 1996.
One child in 29 will experience the death of a parent or sibling, which equates to one child in every classroom in every school at any given time. Bereavement in childhood is recognised as an Adverse Childhood Experience with a potential lifelong impact. Engagement with Jeremiah’s Journey builds resilience and can prevent future referral to child or adult mental health services.
The charity is entirely self-funded, having received no statutory funding at all during the 27 years that they have been supporting the community. Local support is key to ensuring that their work can continue on for future generations. If your business or organisation would like to support Jeremiah’s Journey, there are a number of ways in which you can. John Naismith, Supporter Engagement Manager at the charity said “This is an amazing little charity delivering a huge service for the city. If you would like to be a part of what we do, whether that be having us as your charity of the year, sponsoring an event, donating raffle prizes, having a team volunteering day or anything else, we’d love to hear from you.”
Who would provide the therapeutic interventions for these local bereaved children and young people in Plymouth if Jeremiah’s Journey were not there to do so?
To contact Jeremiah’s Journey, you can ring 01752 424348 or email supporters@jeremiahsjourney.org.uk
