Funeral director shares coping mechanisms for grief ahead of Grief Awareness Day

Jennifer Ashe and Son, a funeral directing team headquartered in Willenhall, is hoping to ease the pain of grieving families by sharing their ways to help combat loss.

Grief Awareness Day falls on Friday, August 30, with the day aiming to spread awareness around those grieving with loss, trauma and grief.

Now, to try to help families cope with the passing of a loved one, managing director, John Ashe has listed the top tips his team uses to help alleviate grief in the wake of loss.

• Accept your feelings: "Allow yourself to feel whatever emotions you are trying to process – whether confusion, anger, sadness, or even relief. Grief is a deeply personal experience, and there's no "right" way to feel."

• Read about grief and the experience of others: "Literature can help explain bereavement to all ages, but it can be particularly helpful when supporting a child or young person who has suffered a loss."

• Memorialise: "Finding ways to remember and celebrate the person you have lost can be beneficial. This could include creating a scrapbook, planting a tree, writing a letter, or engaging in a tradition that was shared between you and your loved one."

• Maintain a routine: "Maintaining a daily routine can provide a sense of stability during a time of emotional upheaval. Simple tasks like eating meals at regular times, exercising, or engaging in hobbies can help ground you."

• Time is the greatest healer: "It is possibly the most common cliché in the world, but having supported families with grieving for nearly a decade, we can hand on heart confirm that time does help. The immediate aftermath of a death is often a time of shock and denial, coloured by a sense that the world will never be right again. This is entirely normal."

Jennifer Ashe and Son also offer a number of bereavement groups in the West Midlands, for more information, visit their website.