16.03.2021
Providing Bereavement Support to All in Need – Clontarf Parish Launches New Service
The impact of the pandemic on how we mourn our loved ones has led a Dublin parish to set up a new bereavement service. The Dublin Bereavement Support Service (DBSS) will be launched by Clontarf Parish tomorrow – St Patrick’s Day.
Comprising a team of trained bereavement counsellors who are volunteering their time and expertise, the service will initially operate via zoom until it can safely transition to a person–to–person counselling service. They will support people dealing with grief by providing freely accessible, professional bereavement support to all who need it.
The new DBSS was born out of conversations between the Rector of Clontarf, the Revd Lesley Robinson, and parishioners Jim Kieran and Dr Tony Walsh, both of whom are experienced bereavement counsellors, focussing on the impact that the pandemic and all the associated restrictions have had on the experience of loss and grief.
Many families have lost a loved one to Covid 19 and most could not be with the dying person in their final days and hours. Meanwhile, everyone who has been bereaved over the course of the last year has been denied many of the supports and rituals which are usually such an important part of the grieving process.
“Gone are the wakes and the reposing. Funerals have mostly been arranged over the phone with the services themselves being shortened, and the attendances greatly curtailed to the extent that sometimes even close family members have not been able to attend,” Lesley observes.
“After the funeral, the traditional gatherings centred around the sharing of food and memories have also had to be sacrificed, along with all the callers who would normally bring welcome support and distraction in those difficult days and weeks after the bereavement. All of this is so counter–intuitive and counter cultural in a society like ours which normally puts such emphasis on the rituals around death and bereavement and will no doubt lead to a lot of unprocessed grief around the loss of loved ones,” she adds.
Both Tony and Jim have been involved in bereavement support for many years through the Irish Hospice Foundation and the Bereavement Counselling Service which formerly operated out of St Ann’s, Dawson Street. Following the closure of the BCS a few years ago and in the current circumstances, they and the Rector agreed that a new bereavement support service would be both beneficial and necessary.
Jim used his network of former colleagues to bring on board a number of trained and experienced counsellors who agreed to be a part of this new venture, and the seed which had been sown began to sprout.
While the DBSS will be run under the auspices of Clontarf Church of Ireland parish, and is rooted in the Christian calling to show love and compassion to all, the service is open to everyone. The service is offered in an impartial, non–judgemental way which does not seek to impose religious beliefs on others and acknowledges that people’s experiences of grief may differ, but all are equally valid.
Initially, the service is being offered via zoom on a one to one basis, but later in the year when the vaccine rollout is more extensive and restrictions have been lifted, face–to–face counselling will be offered. As all the current volunteers are in the Clontarf area, the Parish Centre on Seafield Road will provide one venue, and another will be sourced elsewhere in the North Dublin area. Eventually it is hoped that with the addition of more trained volunteers the service will be extended into South Dublin.
The support service is being offered free of charge although donations can be given if desired. Prospective clients can contact the volunteer counsellors directly by accessing the contact details on the DBSS website www.bereavementsupport.ie .
DBSS wishes to acknowledge the invaluable and generous contributions made by Tom Hennessy, Alive Coaching, Orla Fitzmaurice, Poppyvine Website Design, and Abigail Hicks, Designer and Illustrator in getting this venture off the ground.
