After the death of Rosie Williams’s beloved dad, Paul, in January 2020, the family were offered support from Just ‘B’ to help them manage their grief.
Here, Paul’s wife Marianne, and daughter Rosie, aged 8, share their thoughts on how Just ‘B’ was able to give support throughout lockdown.
Marianne said: “Rosie was able to attend the Just ‘B’ centre at Burton House for a couple of sessions before lockdown happened and I was impressed by the dedication, professionalism and support which is provided.
“When lockdown started, none of us were sure how the support would work out, but I have to say Rosie’s support worker, Katie, was amazing. She got in touch and discussed with us all the possible options. She offered us a range of different ways of support – by telephone, video and so on – and we felt totally included in the process. It was all about what was best for Rosie and us as a family.
“Rosie really looked forward to her weekly sessions with Katie and, being a young person, totally loved being able to keep in touch by technology. It was really important to her during lockdown when we all felt pretty isolated. She’s very sociable and really needed that ‘fix’ of being able to have one-to-one attention purely for her.
“When Rosie was having a support session, I put her in a room with loads of art materials so she could have privacy. Her twin brother, Wilf, didn’t feel he wanted Just ‘B’ support, but sometimes he wanted to join in, and that was OK too.
“Obviously, since Paul died, there have been times when she was tearful, angry and frustrated but you could really see the difference after a session. She was a different girl.”
Marianne added: “Rosie’s sessions with Katie have come to an end now, but she knows she can access the support again if she ever needs it.
Rosie said: “Katie was really kind and caring and we had fun. We did lots of different things to help me talk about Dad. I drew happy memories of Dad, like the way he held me upside down at bedtime. Another time we put buttons on a piece of paper. One button was me and I had to put buttons all around me as different people I love. I put Dad right next to me, but it was hard to fit all the buttons on.
“Talking to Katie was good because I didn’t have to keep my feelings inside and I could share them, which made me feel better.
“Katie explained things to me so I understood them. She told me about the fried egg idea (Tonkins model of grief). The yellow yolk is all my sadness and that won’t ever go away, but the white bits are all the happy memories and new things and other people which will grow around the yolk in time.
“Just ‘B’ was really good because the stuff we did was fun but it really helped me too.”
