The Alder Centre relaunches Child Death Helpline to support those affected by child bereavement

The Alder Centre, located at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, has relaunched the Child Death Helpline to provide crucial support to anyone affected by the death of a child.

Staffed by volunteers who are themselves bereaved parents, this national service, from The Alder Centre, offers a compassionate listening ear, support, and guidance for anyone impacted by such a loss, whether it occurred recently or many years ago.

This includes healthcare professionals, police, emergency services, schools, parents, family and friends of the deceased child. Trained volunteers are all bereaved parents supervised and supported by professional teams at The Alder Centre who provide signposting, support and a listening ear.

Research shows that one of the best supports following a child’s death is from others who have also experienced the death of a child, as they understand the unique feelings raised. Most calls to the helpline are from parents and step-parents followed by grandparents and aunts/uncles.

The Helpline was previously a combined partnership between Great Ormond St Children’s Hospital and Alder Hey. In 2023, Alder Hey became the sole Trust responsible for ensuring this valuable national bereavement support was not lost.

The Helpline complements the hospital’s unique bereavement service, which includes the Snowdrop Team that supports the family when a child dies, and The Alder Centre who provide ongoing care. Recognised across the country as a gold standard service and envied by other hospital bereavement services up and down the country.

Michelle Meredith is the co-ordinator at the Child Death Helpline and has been increasing awareness by forging links with charities, councils, funeral directors and other bereavement services across the country.

Michelle said:

“The Child Death Helpline is such an important service. We know that often bereaved parents want to help others going through similar situations, and this can be anyone from a parent, grandparent or anyone else affected by the death of a child including the police and emergency services.

“Following 10 years of volunteer work in child death with various charities and hospitals, I’m now responsible for recruitment, selection, training of call handlers, and ensuring a high standard of service to callers. I’ll also be speaking at The Northern Bereavement Loss Conference for Children and Young People in October.”

Diane and son Ryan. Credit: The Alder Centre

Diane Barrett volunteers at The Alder Centre every week for the past eight months, welcoming and talking to families. Diane is also starting training to work on the child death helpline. In 2017, Diane said goodnight to her son Ryan, but when she went to wake him in the morning, he had sadly passed away.

Diane said:

“I was in a really bad place when I first came to The Alder Centre, but through counselling, various therapies and just being in a place where I could be normal and talk about anything, they have helped me get to where I am now. They have built my confidence and now I can help others going through the same thing, which I think is really special. I wanted to make Ryan proud and knew this is what he would have wanted me to do.”

The Alder Centre was established in 1989 by a small group of health care professionals in partnership with bereaved parents who identified a gap in the services available to child-bereaved families. Over the past 35 years, the service has reached over 10,000 families. It is the only purpose-built dedicated child bereavement centre in the UK offering care and education to ensure a healthier, happier, and fairer future where those affected by the death of a child can achieve their full potential.

The Child Death Helpline invited bereaved families, and anyone affected by the death of a child to leave a voice message to their child or children they have care for via an audio booth during the relaunch of the Child Death Helpline on 30^th August. These messages will be stored on a special USB stick to be buried within the grounds of The Alder Centre.