 | |
| Founded | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Julie Stokes |
| Type | Charity |
| Focus | Childhood bereavement |
| Location |
|
Area served | United Kingdom |
| Services | Charitable services |
Employees | 53 |
Volunteers | 250 |
| Website | winstonswish |
Winston's Wish is a childhood bereavement charity in the UK. [1] The charity offers a wide range of practical support and guidance to bereaved children, their families and professionals. The charity currently supports 40,000 bereaved children and young people per year. [2]
Winston's Wish provides professional therapeutic help in individual, group and residential settings, [3] and via a national helpline, interactive website and publications.
The charity is the only specialist national provider of support for children bereaved through murder, manslaughter, suicide, [4] military or hard to reach families.
Winston's Wish also operate SWITCH, a community outreach bereavement support service for vulnerable children and young people aged between 8–14. The service is targeted at vulnerable children who are bereaved of a parent/carer, grandparent or sibling. [5]
Winston's Wish was set up in 1992 [6] to meet the needs of bereaved children, young people and their families. The idea took root when clinical psychologist, Julie Stokes, visited the US and Canada on a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship. Having been inspired by the services she saw there, Stokes returned to the UK and set up Winston's Wish. [7] ‘Churchill’ quickly metamorphosed into ‘Winston’ – a bear – who became the charity mascot. Therefore, the charity believes it is Winston's ‘wish’ that every bereaved child should receive the help they need to cope with the death of someone important in their lives.
In 1992, Winston's Wish founded to meet the needs of bereaved children in Gloucestershire. Within two years, the service expanded to local schools. In 2000, the charity received funding from the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund [8] for the development of an interactive website aimed at 12- to 18-year-olds. In 2005, the charity launched a national service for children affected by murder, manslaughter or suicide. This was followed in 2006 by the opening of an office in West Sussex. In 2010, the national service launched supporting bereaved children of military families thanks to funding from Help for Heroes.
The charity celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2012 and had funding awarded by Big Lottery Fund for a new service targeted at bereaved teenagers at risk of offending. This came to fruition in 2013 with the launch of new teenagers bereavement service, ‘SWITCH’. In the same year, the charity launched a fundraising appeal to provide support services in the Wigan [9] and Greater Manchester areas.
Winston's Wish has been the recipient of a number of awards since the charity was launched.
Since 2012, Winston's Wish has annually hosted The Great British Brekkie, a fundraising campaign which aims to revive the tradition of the Great British breakfast. The campaign attracted celebrity support, [15] notably from Richard and Judy, [16] Ruby Wax, Alexander Armstrong, Rachel Khoo, Cerys Matthews and Ray Mears.
In 2015, the campaign attracted further support from Judi Dench, [17] Jacqueline Wilson, Chris Ramsey, Heston Blumenthal, Jenny Eclair and Sol Campbell. [18]
As part of the campaign, Winston's Wish broke a Guinness World Record [19] for the most soldiers dipping eggy soldiers simultaneously. The official winning title states: ‘The most people dipping egg soldiers simultaneously is 178 and was achieved by soldiers of the Allied Rapid Response Corps at an attempt organised by Winston's Wish at Imjin Barracks, Gloucestershire, UK, on 22 January 2014.’
Readying the 2016 campaign, Winston's Wish has enlisted further support from Alan Davies, Andrew Flintoff, Bill Oddie, Gino D'Acampo and Barenaked Ladies.
Dame Judith Olivia Dench is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage. Dench has garnered various accolades throughout a career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards and seven Olivier Awards.
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was an independent grant-giving foundation established in September 1997 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, to continue her humanitarian work in the United Kingdom and overseas. It was a registered charity under English law. The Fund closed at the end of 2012.
Blue Cross is a registered animal welfare charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1897. The charity provides veterinary care, offers expert behavioural help, and finds homes for pets in need. Their pet bereavement service supports those who are struggling to cope with the loss of a much-loved pet.
Marie Curie is a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides hospice care and support for anyone with an illness they’re likely to die from, and those close to them, and campaigns for better support for dying people. It was established in 1948, the same year as the National Health Service (NHS).
Children International is a global nonprofit humanitarian organization that helps children break the cycle of poverty. It addresses children’s critical needs through early intervention and regular interaction in community centers. The goal is to help children overcome the effects of poverty, support their education, and prepare youth to contribute to society.
Victim Support is an independent charity in England and Wales that provides specialist practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime.
Sue Ryder is a British palliative and bereavement support charity based in the United Kingdom. Formed as The Sue Ryder Foundation in 1953 by World War II Special Operations Executive volunteer Sue Ryder, the organisation provides care and support for people living with terminal illnesses and neurological conditions, as well as individuals who are coping with a bereavement. The charity was renamed Sue Ryder Care in 1996, before adopting its current name in 2011.
Missing People is a national organisation in the United Kingdom that offers assistance to people who run away and/or go missing and their families. It is a registered charity under English law.
ABF The Soldiers' Charity, formerly the Army Benevolent Fund, is the national charity of the British Army. Since 1944, it has provided a lifetime of support to soldiers, veterans and their immediate families when they are in need.
Alder Hey Children's Hospital is a children's hospital and NHS foundation trust in West Derby, Liverpool, England. It is one of the largest children's hospitals in the United Kingdom, and one of several specialist hospitals within the Liverpool City Region, alongside the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool Women's Hospital, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, the Walton Centre, Mersey Regional Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit, and Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.
Big Give is a non-profit, charitable website that enables donors to find and support charity projects in their field of interest. It was founded in October 2007 by Sir Alec Reed CBE. His son James Reed became Chair of Trustees in 2019.
Brake is a road safety charity. It was established in 1995. It coordinates Road Safety Week, provides support services for people bereaved and injured in road crashes.
Rainbows the East Midlands Children’s Hospice is a registered charity in England, Number 1014051. The charity provides palliative care and support for children, young people, and their families, when faced with life-limiting conditions.
Refuge is a United Kingdom charity providing specialist support for women and children experiencing domestic violence. It was founded by author and Men’s Rights Activist Erin Pizzey. Refuge provides a national network of specialist services, including emergency refuge accommodation (refuges), community outreach, independent domestic violence advocacy (IDVAs), culturally specific services and a team of child support workers. Refuge also runs the Freephone 24-Hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is only available for women.
Cruse Bereavement Support and its counterpart Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland are the United Kingdom's largest bereavement charity, which provide bereavement support to people suffering from grief.
Susan Lewis is a British author living in the west of England who has written 50 novels as well as an autobiographical memoir – Just One More Day (2006) with a follow-up memoir One Day at a Time to be published November 2011. Her novels were nominated for the Romantic Novelists' Association's Romantic Novel of the Year award in 2002 and 2005.
Compassionate Friends UK (TCF) is a peer support group operating in the United Kingdom. It is a registered charity formed by and for parents whose children have died, irrespective of the child's age at death and the cause of death, and is independent of any religious, philosophical or government body.
Tu Nidito, meaning “your little nest” in Spanish, is a non-profit agency in Tucson, Arizona that provides support for children affected by serious medical conditions and death. The programs they offer include grief support for children and young adults that have experienced the death of a loved one, support for children with serious medical conditions, and support for children and teenagers that have a parent diagnosed with a serious medical condition, such as cancer.
Bo's Place, established in 1990, is a nonprofit organization based in Houston, Texas. It offers free support programs for children, ages 3 to 18, and their families who have experienced the death of a child or an adult in their immediate family, as well as programs for grieving adults. Services include grief support groups offered in English and Spanish, community outreach programs, education and training, and an information and referral line staffed by mental health professionals. The referral line assists individuals that have experienced a death as well as family, friends, co-workers or other concerned individuals who want guidance to support the bereaved. Bo's Place serves over 1,200 children and adults each year and families stay an average of 14 to 16 months.
Mental health in the Republic of Ireland is the subject of state and community sector intervention in Ireland. The Irish state devolves responsibility for mental health to the Department of Health. Community groups and charities also provide support in the prevention and management of mental illness as well as suicide prevention.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
