Winston’s Wish, a bereavement charity for young people, has pledged to improve its accessibility so that more children and young people can find its services.
The charity, which was formed in 1992, aims to do this by creating a team of youth ambassadors and youth advisers.
In a statement, Winston’s Wish wrote: “Not every child, young person or young adult in the UK knows we are there for them. That’s not their fault, it is ours. We have been too hard to reach.”
The charity acknowledges that many of its beneficiaries currently find its services through adults, so it has devised a new vision to centre the voices of young people and is aiming to increase its digital engagement.
Winston’s Wish is calling on 13 to 25-year-olds to apply to become advisers and ambassadors so they can shape the charity’s services and put them at the “heart of our public voice and our decision making”.
In its latest accounts filed with Companies House, for the year ending 31 March 2022, Winston’s Wish reported that it supported over 22,000 children and young people last year, an increase of 22% on the year prior.
The charity’s ambition is to support 40,000 children and young people a year by 2025.
“We may never be a household name, but our goal is to be a name that can be found by every household,” the charity said.
‘Too many grieving children are invisible to services that can help’
Fergus Crow, chief executive of Winston's Wish, said: “In 2022, too many grieving children and young people have no voice, are invisible to services that can help, and just can’t access the support they need when, where and how they need it – including some of the most vulnerable in our society.
“This means they may be suffering alone, or that their grief has such a devastating impact on them that it affects their mental health, their physical health, their education, their relationships and their chances of leading a full life now and in the future. That’s not fair, and it’s not inevitable.
“Our vision for the next 30 years is to do again what we did back in 1992 and help inspire a new era of open-access bereavement support that consigns the postcode lottery of grief support for children and young people to history; one in which every child, young person and adult knows where to find the help they need when, where and how they need it.”
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