“After the first session I came away feeling ‘lifted’.”
Service Users sharing their thoughts ....
“I have to tell you, that after coming to the group last time, I slept through the whole night…. The first time I’ve slept properly since I lost my husband! The best night’s sleep I’ve had. I felt peaceful inside. It was so lovely to be able to speak about how I was feeling without having to hold anything back in case I upset my Son.”
“I’ve been telling everyone I meet, including everyone in Oncology at hospital, what a fantastic group of people you are and I cannot thank you enough for what you are doing. It’s so lovely to know that there are such caring people in the world and people who have compassion, understand my difficulties and what I’m going through.” “ They tell me at MacMillan that they are so proud of me coming along to this group and they can see the helpful difference it is making to me."
“I was told about the group by a guy who I met at the cemetery. He recently lost his wife. He told me that he’s the only man in the group and although he was anxious about coming along, he said it was the best thing he’s done; everyone in the group is lovely, friendly and caring and he feels he’s able to express himself which is something he usually finds difficult to do. He encouraged me to come along, so here I am.”
“I am on a journey. I live for my Son. I know there are people in front of me in their grief journey which can help me. I know there are people behind me in their grief journey and I am happy to help them along their way. “
“It’s just what I need. I’ve been for 1:1 counselling but I feel that I need to listen to others share their stories and how they cope in difficult situations. I can’t say what I want to say at home as I need to protect my family.”
​
“I need to know that I’m not alone in how I feel.”
They say the best medicine is to laugh. We have lots of tears, but we certainly laugh a lot too! I always feel so much better at the end of the session than when I first arrive.
I sometimes feel 'stuck' in an emotional state and don't know what to do. When we share how we are feeling and we sometimes make reference to different theories of grief, it sort of makes sense to me and I know that I'm not the only person that goes through these things. It's a process that we are trying to understand and we can explore ways of managing things and looking after ourselves.