Rainbows Bereavement Support GB for Schools

Help us help children dealing with bereavement or significant loss

We are Rainbows, a national bereavement support charity, and we need your help so we can provide our resources for free to some of the most deprived children and young people as they contend with a loss that is often devastating. 

The shock of the global Covid pandemic has highlighted the need to provide a solid base of support to children, young people and adults who have experienced losses in their lives that are often devastating.

What children tell us

At Rainbows Bereavement Support GB, we work with more than 1,400 schools in England, Scotland and Wales. We train and support teachers and other educational staff so they can understand and encourage children suffering all kinds of bereavement, from the death of a close family member to a divorce, separation, or other shocking event. Our programme also helps children support each other.  

It typically costs £600 per school to offer our programme. With your funding, we can provide our services to 25 schools in the most deprived areas free of charge. 

The work of Rainbows is tried, tested, researched, monitored and evaluated. We know the impact of our work is long-lasting and has a tangible impact on young people’s lives. To see some of the research go to https://rainbowsgb.org/ 

Please help us be there.

Who we are

We are a national charity that has been dedicated since 1992 to providing support to children and young people across Great Britain who have suffered a significant loss in their lives. It might be a death in the family, but it might also be a divorce or separation, which can be equally devastating. 

Most of our staff are volunteers, often with backgrounds in teaching or education, and they work for free because they are passionate about what they do. Through them, we provide a structured 12-14 week programme that creates a safe and sensitive environment to enable children and young people to navigate the grief they are experiencing. 

Our work, which is tailored to different age groups and specific or special needs, is tried and tested, combining research with monitoring and evaluation. We know we make a difference. Today, more than 100,000 children and young people have access to our facilitated support in more than 1,400 schools. 

What Parents tell us

Our values

At Rainbows, we believe that every grieving pupil in every school should be given the support, encouragement and understanding they need.

We want to:

• Raise awareness of the effects of bereavement and loss on children, young people and adults
• Facilitate high-quality education and training in how to deal with bereavement and loss
• Provide practical, sensitive and realistic guidance to schools to ensure they have appropriate policies and procedures in place
• Nurture and develop the emotional health and well-being of those who have experienced significant loss

Why we need your help

More children suffer bereavement than you might think. By the age of 16, close to one in every 20 young people will have endured the death of one or both of their parents. And in 2004, the last time a national survey was carried out, approximately 3.5% of 5-16 year olds had lost a parent or a sibling. That translates as about one in every 29 school-age children, or roughly one child in every classroom will have suffered a loss.

The shock of the global Covid pandemic has highlighted the need to provide a solid base of support to children, young people and adults who have experienced losses in their lives that are often devastating.

But the reasons for grief come in many forms. When a couple’s relationship irretrievably breaks down and they divorce or separate, for example, the impact on their children can be just as traumatic.

In many cases, the pandemic has increased the financial strains, not just on households, but also in metropolitan and rural areas where the wealth divide is already deeply rooted.

We, and other like-minded charities, do our best to ensure that appropriate help is provided but more, much more, needs to be done.

Where your money goes

It costs about £600 to get a Rainbows bereavement support package into each school. That includes a training programme, a ‘Rainbows Box’ containing age-appropriate games, toys, journals and other materials that will help sustain schoolchildren through the 12-week programme, as well as follow-up support provided to members of staff.

Raising £15,000 would mean that we could deliver our programme to a further 25 schools without having to charge them and we will aim to target the more deprived parts of Great Britain, where current support is the most limited.

We will make sure that every penny of your pledge is put to good use, going directly to help provide support to the grieving school children who need it.

Images of arty rewards

Rob Lowe's badge of joy

James Brown's Linocut abstract

Kate Gibb's Silk Screen