WA charity Lionheart Camp for Kids will encourage conversation about death and grief on Children’s Grief Awareness Day on November 17.
WA charity Lionheart Camp for Kids will encourage conversation about death and grief on Children’s Grief Awareness Day on November 17.
The annual day was established to raise awareness of the one in 20 Australian children grieving the death of a parent before the age of 18 every year.
This is over 30,500 children in WA at risk of negative psychological, educational and employment outcomes due to a lack of grief support services available.
Lionheart Camp for Kids was founded in 2015 as a not-for-profit organisation supporting grieving children and families and empowering them to navigate their grief.
The charity’s services include online support programs, mentoring, community events, in-school programs and educational resources.
Chief executive and founder of Lionheart Camp for Kids and senior social worker at Perth’s Children’s Hospital Shelly Skinner said the death of a loved one is life changing for children.
“Without adequate support, children can experience significantly decreased quality of life and wellbeing which can continue to impact them well into adulthood,” Ms Skinner said.
Ms Skinner said despite the generous donations from the community and grant funding from organisations including Telethon and Lotterywest, there isn’t enough support coming from the government.
“Our programs change lives, but people just aren’t aware of the importance of grief support for children otherwise there would be more financial support coming from the government and the community,” Ms Skinner said.
Lionheart Camp for Kids has a vision to normalise open conversations about death and grief within the community.
Lionheart board member and psychology professor at Curtin University Lauren Breen said grief is a taboo topic especially for children.
“Not talking about death and grief as normal life experiences contributes to the lack of support available to grieving children and families,” Ms Breen said.
She said more discussions would help grieving children feel less alone.
“We need to tackle the stigma by talking more openly about death and grief with each other.
“Let’s start the conversation on Children’s Grief Awareness Day.”
