Local company funds Marie Curie Child Bereavement Service in Liverpool

The Greif Packaging Charitable Trust has donated a gift of £118,800 to the Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool, to fund the Children and Young Persons Counsellor as part of the charity’s Bereavement Support Service.
 
The gift from the company, which operates from Ellesmere Port on the Wirral, will cover the cost of the Children and Young Persons Counsellor for three years. The counsellor currently provides pre and post bereavement support to about 100 local children and their families a year.
 
Alison Germain, Children and Young Persons Counsellor for Marie Curie Cancer Care, said: "This is a wonderfully generous gift which will provide ongoing support for families across Liverpool who are living with a terminal illness and coping with bereavement.
 
"Pre-bereavement support is crucial as a preventative measure to ease some of the trauma of the death itself, helping to avert the most severe psychological problems children may face in future. Equally, post bereavement support is pivotal in helping children understand grief much more effectively and to cope with the emotions of intense sadness, isolation, anger and guilt that it throws at you.
 
"As the Marie Curie service is the only pre bereavement support available in Liverpool, referrals come not only via the hospice, but from local palliative care teams and other healthcare professionals in the city. So this gift is one that the whole city will benefit from."

Graham Duerden, Director and Business Unit Manager of Greif UK Ltd., David Tillotson, Financial Director of Greif UK Holding Ltd., and Laurence Pritchard, a Trustee of The Greif Packaging Charitable Trust and a partner at Weightmans LLP, all visited the hospice recently to present the gift and have a tour. A plaque has been installed by the hospice to acknowledge and celebrate the generous donation from The Grief Packaging Charitable Trust.

Mr Duerden said: "The opportunity to assist children is always a compelling proposition.  Marie Curie Cancer Care makes an important difference to individuals and families who are dealing with extremely difficult circumstances."

Mr Pritchard said: "The Greif Packaging Charitable Trust is delighted to make this donation to Marie Curie to fund the child bereavement service at the Marie Curie Hospice in Liverpool over the next three years. I have been impressed with the hard work and dedication of the staff and am certain that the support they will provide to families across Liverpool will be of great benefit in helping children come to terms with losing a family member."

Greif is a world leader in industrial packaging products and services, producing steel, plastic and fibre drums, intermediate bulk containers, plastic water bottles and other packaging products.  Greif operates in the UK from Ellesmere Port and Burton on Trent and has operations in over 50 countries.

Case study: Raisah’s story

At the age of 11, Raisah and her family were supported by the Children and Young Persons Counsellor, Alison Germain, and the Marie Curie Hospice. Raisah’s older sister Athina died of cancer aged just 25.

Raisah, now aged 18, said: "In Athina’s last week, I learnt more about her condition, about the process of dying and how my own feelings would develop and change than I had in the previous five months.
 
"The counsellor taught me that it was OK to feel angry and frightened. She understood that when a child faces losing someone they love, they want honesty and compassion, not someone patting their head and pretending everything’s fine."

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