Level One Training in ‘Childhood Grief’ has been designed to meet the
initial demands of adults who want, or need, to understand the impact of grief
on children and young people. It is a course that will be valuable for many
agencies, establishments and individuals.
By the end of the course you will be able to:
Identify local agencies that offer support, advice and assistance to children and
young people who are experiencing grief.
Recognise the significance that socialisation and life experience have on the way
we think about death and grief.
Recognise that loss is a natural and constant process in life.
Identify the many components that will influence the way children and young
people grieve.
Understand the importance of not denying grief.
Recognise that every child or young person’s response is unique to them.
Understand the impact of the language we use around death on children and
young people.
Gain an understanding of a child’s or young person’s perception of death in
accordance with their age or developmental stage.
Identify some of the associated responses a child or young person will display
when grieving, both physically and emotionally.
Recognise that children and young people do not grieve in the same way as
adults, and to be able to relate to models that identify those differences.
Have a frame on which to assess the likelihood of traumatic grief.
Identify actions that are proactive in supporting grieving children and
young people.
Recognise when it is useful to refer a child on to a relevant agency.
Level One Training
Balloons provide a flexible approach to costing and timings of our courses. The following are designed to provide you with some guidelines. Courses can be delivered over: One whole day from 9.30 – 4.00 with a ½ hr lunch break and 2 X 15 min tea/ coffee breaks.
Cost: £295.00 plus travel expenses, for up to 15 delegates. Venue to be
provided by the booking organisation. Those attending to bring their own
packed lunches.
Two half days from 9.30 – 1.00 or 1.00 – 4.30 with a 15 min tea/coffee break.
Cost: £325.00 plus travel expenses, for up to 15 delegates. Venue provided by
the booking organisation. Those attending to bring their own packed lunches.
If you do not have 15 delegates, you could offer it to other colleagues / organizations and charge them for their places to assist you in covering the fee.
We also offer this training at venues provided by us. These are only available as full day courses at a cost per head of £50.00 a day (minimum number ten). Those attending to bring their own packed lunches. Tea and coffee provided. If you are interested in booking a course or would like further information, please contact the Balloons Family Worker and Trainer, Deborah Butler on 01392 826064 or email: familyworker@balloons-devon.org.uk
All our thanks to Rebecca Layman from Pete's Dragons who was sponsored to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for us and raised £1000!
We have been chosen to be the Charity supported by the House of Fraser Father Christmas this year!
They are having letters to Santa for a donation of at least £1, all of which will come to us. In addition, they will put some details - balloons posters and our balloons, leaflets etc - in their high street window for all to see.
Christmas has come early this year!
Our thanks to Basepoint who have given us a £1820 cheque and offered to have balloons as their chosen charity until March 2013. We can have monthly events in the lobby and have £5000 match funding each year!
Three MAMIL’s On A Bike
This is a personal account of our three day cycle ride from Bovey Tracey to London in September 2011. Nick, Dave and myself made a pact – “What is said on the bike, stays on the bike” so not everything is recorded here. It’s just the thoughts and experiences I wanted to record before I forget some of the detail. We shed blood, sweat and tears along the route but would not miss one minute of our time on the road. It’s true to say we could never have completed the ride without the support of our support crew, other half’s Cindy, Julie and Sam and youngsters Zoe, Maddie and little Rylan. Thanks and love to all of you for the help, support and patience you provided. Shame you forgot the Lottery tickets though. We could have been millionaires by now! Oh, and if you are wondering what a MAMIL is it’s a Middle Aged Man In Lycra.
“One of the things that came out of the counselling tonight was one of Kieran’s goals, that we already knew, to cycle to London. Zoe told the counsellor with such conviction that it just has to be done in his memory, yes that's where you come in. How about you and Nick cycle, Julie, Zoe and I meet you there, obviously having been shopping first! We all need a challenge, timescale to be agreed :-). Probably won't be able to talk about it without tears for a while, but Nick will need a road bike, lots of training and perhaps even Lycra!
How would you two feel about it?
Cindy”
This was the email sent to myself and Julie in June ‘inviting’ us to cycle to London. Fast forward three months, two road bikes and a training plan we were on the start line at Bovey Tracey Primary School. Dateline – 22nd September 2011. By this stage we had acquired a third member of the cycling squad, Dave French, a neighbour of Nick and Cindy’s. In order to look the part (and to look slimmer) lycra had been bought and squeezed into. Zoe would cycle the first mile with us and about a dozen pupils/keen road cyclists from Torquay Boy’s Grammar School would pace us through the first fifteen miles. Bovey Tracey School were magnificent and organised a memorable send off. The pupils and parents filled the playground and lined the drive into the school. Friends had also come along to see us off. We were interviewed by Radio Devon live and the press were there to take photos and interview us all. At 9.15 Cindy cut the ribbon and off we went – bit cautious as the drive was a bit of a slope and didn’t want to come a cropper yards (metres for the younger readers) from the start.
After about a mile Zoe was picked up to join the support with Cindy and Julie. The teenage cyclists set up a good pace through the Teign Valley but we managed to keep up with them after one of them suffered a puncture and wheel blowing out (tin tacks can come in useful!). The first challenge came at Longdown Hill which everyone successfully climbed without oxygen. First Jelly Baby stop at the top. Dave then displayed his downhill skills on the other side and left the lads behind. It could be also due to the fact that he gave them wrong directions sending them up another steep hill whilst he did a quick right turn. From Alphington we negotiated the maze of cycle lanes that join the south of Exeter to the north. Eventually reached Sowton where, after saying our farewells, the lads left us to get on with some serious mileage.
We were following the old road to Honiton and our first scheduled stop was the Jack in the Green on Rockbeare Straight. The support crew had been joined by friends Neil and Shirley who had also primed some nearby builders to give us a cheer. After tea and pee we were on our way again through Fenny Bridges where we found a designated cycle route to Honiton. The road meandered along for a few miles before taking a left turn just short of Heathpark Industrial Estate in Honiton. Result! We anticipated a traffic free route through to the town centre. Wrong! It was a lung busting, heart stopping steep lane which seemed to go on for ages. The hill was so steep the front wheel was lifting off the road or 16% gradient for those in the know. Got to the top for Jelly Baby stop and had swooping descent into Honiton. Whoopee – the descent ended about a hundred yards from the start of the climb. Waste of energy but we decided it was character building!
After passing through Honiton we headed out towards Chard on the Old Chard Road. We faced more uphill but by this stage we were well warmed up. The girls had rung to say the road was being resurfaced up ahead and to take care. Resurfacing consisted of putting down a thin layer of tar and throwing a thick layer of chippings on the top. Not good for riding on with thin, slick road tyres. After slip sliding down numerous hills we met the support team in a farm entrance. We all had a welcome lunch of Tesco butties and hot drinks while Zoe checked our tyres for holes after our episode with grit. She also did a fantastic job of filling our water bottles with energy drinks. Five minutes into the break we were descended upon by various lorries and road laying machinery. It was time to move on. More grit surfing for us but at least we got through. The girls were turned back and had to make a detour. Got to the top of another hill and were faced with a set of crossroads. We were lost! Tried to ring Julie but straight through to answerphone – she was in the loo somewhere! We had an inclination that the A30 was only a couple of miles away so decided to head over and get some miles under our belt on a main road. A30 was quieter, and flatter, than we had thought and we were soon heading into Chard where we were meeting for a tea and pee stop at Tesco’s. The three of us suggested buying Lottery tickets for Friday and Saturday. The glamour of it all! Hit Chard at nearly 40mph – lucky speed cameras can’t pick up bikes. Next came Crewekerne and have an apology for the residents. Really don’t remember your town at all! Not sure if it’s because we went through at such high speed (unlikely) or it’s instantly forgettable (likely). Yeovil was the next major town on our itinerary and we’ve cycled 74 miles at this point. Hit the area at rush hour but negotiated the roads successfully. The girls were waiting for us with a hot drink and encouragement which were both welcome at this stage. Long sleeve jerseys and arm warmers were put on as the temperature was beginning to drop. Lights were fitted to the bikes just in case we were still out on the road after dark. After leaving Yeovil it was a bit of a roller coaster as we made our way towards Wilton, a small town just short of Salisbury. Rang Julie again – answerphone – toilet. There’s a pattern emerging here. Another five miles saw us going through Sherborne – another unforgettable town, or we were just tired! I think this was around the time Dave produced the first of his ‘magic’ Mars bars. As we were heading up yet another steep hill Dave suggested Nick and I go on to the top while he takes a breather and has a Mars bar. Not sure what secret ingredients had been added but the next thing we saw was Dave’s rear light disappearing into the distance. After a handful of Jelly Babies Nick and I had to pedal like mad to catch up with the distant red light. We were in Shaftesbury, about thirteen miles short of our Wilton finish point when the girls rang and ‘suggested’ we call it a day as it was getting colder and darker plus we still had to load up the car with our bikes, get to our Travelodge and find something to eat. After a combination of satnav and atlases we find our destination, the Travelodge in Amesbury. Book in and then set about finding some dinner, preferably a healthy option. No chance! The onsite Burger King and Happy Eater were both closed so we headed into Amesbury. Everything closed at 9.00 so we settled for a Dominoes pizza – oh well. Things could be worse. Still no lottery tickets either. The Travelodge was fine but not the most comfortable bed so not too much sleep. Dave had all three bikes propped up in his room so at least he wasn’t alone. I think the bikes were wishing he was alone; as next morning we were greeted by the strong aroma of deep heat wafting through the room. I hope he washed his hands before preparing for the mornings ride!
Friday dawns and we are up at 7.00. Luckily the Happy Eater was open for breakfast so it was a sausage sarnie for Nick and me, with Dave picking the healthy option of porridge. Driving back to the start point for the ride we passed Stonehenge. Impressive site but be better when the roof is on!! As we were short of yesterdays target we were dropped off at yesterday’s pickup point. We started cycling at 10.00 but due to yesterdays ‘early’ finish we took about an hour to reach our planned start point in Wilton.
Cycling through Salisbury was pretty busy and took a call from Radio Devon asking us to be on the Saturday breakfast show via mobile phone. This leg of the ride was certainly flatter than yesterdays so we were able to crack on to our first meeting point in a Travelodge car park on the A34. Oh the glamour. Dave’s other half Sam would be meeting us there with Maddie and Rylan, their little ‘un’s. After pitching up at the car park we realised that there is a Travelodge on both sides of the A34 and we were at the wrong one. I know Julie, you did tell us to go through the village of Sutton Scotney first. We’re men, we don’t always listen! Anyway, we were finally reunited and tucked in to various butties and Sam produced some cake cooked by a neighbour. Not sure who you are but you are a kitchen goddess for your fruit cake. For the second half of today’s route we were taking to the minor roads and country lanes. We were still planning the route as we ate lunch. The discussion dipped in and out of the benefits of a camper van where we would have all the comforts of home at every stop!
We eventually set off with refilled water bottles thanks to Zoe and Maddie with a rough route consisting of a list of villages to pass through. All went well for the first ten miles or so. As the support crew passed us Julie shouted out the name of the next village to head for. My ‘selective’ hearing filtered out most of it but I knew it began with ‘A’. We reached a T-junction where we engaged in conversation with the driver of a Porsche 377/975/495 Special Limited Edition with ceramic wheel nuts and titanium ash trays (I think that’s what Nick said). The driver was admiring Nick’s bike but surprisingly declined the offer of a swap. In the meantime one of the signposts pointed to a village beginning with ‘A’ so off we headed. After about five miles of mostly uphill I decided to check the list of villages we needed to go through. Anyone can make a mistake, Alresford sound like Axford when being shouted from a moving car. At least the return journey was downhill and all uphill’s are character building although Dave did tell me that his character was of sufficient stature at this stage. Rang Julie again…….and Cindy answered. Julie was in the loo. What’s the point of having a mobile if you don’t carry it with you? And there is nothing like a quick game of Angry Birds while taking a ‘break’. Must be a bloke thing. We caught up with the support crew at village with a name beginning with ‘A’. Due to the time we had spent ‘enjoying ourselves’, not my words, it was suggested we go on to Basingstoke and pick up the main roads through to Guildford. Question: If Britain was a human body which part is represented by Basingstoke? Answers on a postcard!
After a few miles the girls once again phoned through with a traffic update. It was rush hour again and was going to be busy getting around the town. We stopped on the outskirts for a Jelly Baby stop and for Dave to top up his Mars bar levels. Support crew were waiting on the far side of Basingstoke where we were treated to tales of toilet stops, ditches, rats and umbrellas. And we thought we were weird with our fantasies about giant Jelly Babies and Mars bars with magical powers. Once again day was turning to night so long sleeves and lights were dug out of the car. Next stop A30 but the roads were getting really busy and were dual carriageways – not a health combination when you’re tired.
It got really scary on the last few miles from A325 to Aldershot and the A31 onwards to Guildford. The A31 is a three lane highway pretty much a motorway. Not the best place to be cycling at night – and it was uphill. It was Jelly Babies and Mars bars every ten minutes or so. Sam had taken the youngsters on to the Travelodge in Guildford by this stage. Cindy and Julie had stopped in a pub car park where we would meet and decide whether to strike on for Guildford or cut it short for the day. Not sure how we missed the pub but we did! The traffic was seriously heavy by this stage so we pulled in to a lay by and called in the cavalry to pick us up. We were only three or four miles short of Guildford but had cycled 87 miles in the day. For once common sense prevailed.
The Travelodge in Guildford is the closest thing you can get to heaven. A Porsche dealership on one side and an Evans bike store on the other. However, wherever there is heaven there is hell. Both were closed when we arrived and would not be open when we left in the morning. Still, with no sign of any lottery tickets we wouldn’t have a fortune to spend anyway. Once again bikes were taken to bedrooms via lifts and stairs. Ate in the Travelodge Restaurant tonight and caved in to alcohol with a cold beer. The staff were brilliant and printed out Hyde Park permits for tomorrow from Cindy’s emails. In order to get back to our start point and talk to Radio Devon we were to meet in the car park at 7.00.
It didn’t take long to travel back to our start point. I waited in the car for the Radio Devon call while the others got sorted. Dead on 8.50 the phone rang – but it was a friend calling to see how we were getting on. After surreal conversation I twigged that it wasn’t the call from the radio so cut the call short. Finally the interview took place and went well. The support team were going on to Hyde Park to set up so we had no backup along the route today. The three of us soon reached Guildford with a plan to head for Leatherhead. Asked a local for directions and was told there was a cycle path running parallel to the A3 all the way into Central London. Not sure if he was a wind up merchant or we just couldn’t find it. We ended up cycling around ten miles on the hard shoulder of a very busy three lane road. Hard shoulder is a bit of an exaggeration as it was about the width of a ruler (or 30cms for anyone other than Julie and Cindy).
Came off the A3 and decided to try and find our planned route. Nick plugged Hyde Park into the Garmin and off we went. Lovely area, real Surrey suburbia, but every house had been ruined with the fitting of white UPVC windows. The roads looked like an advert for Launa Windows filmed on The Good Life set. Made good progress but were falling behind schedule so decided to risk life and limb again on the A3 joining at Cobham. We were still 22 miles short of Hyde Park and the girls were already there and set up. This time the hard shoulder was about five feet wide so we managed to get a few miles under our wheels. As we got into the more built up areas of London things got a bit hairy. Traffic was filtering in from the left on a few occasions and the hard shoulder had all but disappeared. Dave seemed oblivious to the cars as he left the main carriage way and cut across the slip roads. Couple of times we almost became bike sandwiches. Then with only ten miles to go, as we were heading over a flyover, I went over a pot hole and managed to puncture my rear tyre. We were standing by the side of a busy main road, on a flyover, with our backs to the barrier wondering what to do. Pushed our bikes off the flyover and soon had a new tube fitted.
After this incident we decided not to go back on the A3 but to go through the suburbs of London. We started off from Raynes Park then Merton Park and Colliers Wood. Roads were good and the traffic was flowing well at this stage. Started to get busy when we got to Tooting and we had to have our wits about us. Boris’s blue cycle lanes started to appear but seemed to be used more as an excuse to park on so we were ducking and diving through the traffic. Asked a couple of girls which route to take and tried to persuade them to sponsor us. With their advice we turned left in Tooting to pick up the Thames at Wandsworth. Had to ride on the pavement a couple of times to make up time and avoid the queues. The route now ran parallel to the river until we reached Battersea then across Battersea Bridge. We knew we were getting close now only had two and a half miles to go. Asked a variety of people seemingly from all corners of the globe for directions and soon found ourselves at the bottom left hand corner of Hyde Park and had just the right entrance to find now. Past the Albert Hall and there it was - Alexandra Gate. Didn’t take us long to find Cindy and Zoe in the car park waiting for us. It was a great feeling to have nearly finished. Had a Lucozade and got ready for the final ride with Zoe to the Bandstand where family and friends would be waiting. We collected conkers to give Cindy time to get back to the Bandstand with her granny trolley.
Fifteen minutes later we started cycling with Zoe through the park. Zoe’s bike was causing problems so we stopped for five minutes to fix brakes then onwards to an incredible welcome. We were an hour late than planned but some members of the family got ‘confused’ on the coach (you know who you are) it wasn’t a problem. A red ribbon was stretched across the path for us to finish on although this caused an element of panic as we came in on a different path! The post ride ‘picnic in the park’ had us grazing on cake, nibbles and various beverages all of which were very welcome.
So how did we feel after the ride? Tired but happy that the trip had gone so well considering the lack of planning that soon became apparent. No injuries except Nick’s knees, my bruised knee when I slipped in the shower and Dave’s soreness between Dawlish and Teignmouth (you’ll have to ask him about that one!). Are we going to do another ride? You bet. We have already mentioned Paris or Amsterdam as the next destination. Now where’s my school atlas? I have a route to plan.
What The Press Said!
“Nick Brookes? – never heard of him”
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“Cycling legend Dave French passes through Chard”
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“Radio celebrities make live appearance in Salisbury “
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“Cyclist arrested in Jelly Baby outrage”
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Tedstock made £1000 for balloons! Well done and thank you to all those involved especially Alexis Saffin, Dave Pershouse, Jemima Gladwell and Alice Parker
Tomorrow, in loving memory of Kieran Brookes, his father Nick and friends will start to cycle from Bovey Tracey to London. Plus Kieran's little sister, Zoe, will join the cyclers for the first and last mile. Also tomorrow, Bovey Tracey primary school will have a mufti day. All this is to fund raise for balloons. Our thanks and best wishes to all involved.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367498
/British-schoolboy-injured-horrific-ski-lift-accident-loses-fight-life.html
Dragon Bex is going to climb Kilimanjaro to raise funds for balloons!
To read more please follow this link : www.petesdragons.org.uk
Or you can track her progress on facebook.
Thank you Bex, we all wish you good luck and the time of your life!
Well done Jen Pheby and Clare Selley for speaking so well on our behalf this morning and many thanks to John Govier and BBC radio Devon for giving us this opportunity.
Freedom Is Coming - Summer Choir Concert raised £522 for Balloons! Many thanks to The Big Noise Chorus Ltd, St Thomas Gospel Choir, Exeter, The Mint Methodist Church and everyone who supported by organising, participating, attending and donating. £140 of that total was collected in the tins as people left!
Freedom Is Coming - Summer Choir Concert
29 July · 19:30 - 22:30
at The Mint Methodist Church, Fore Street
St Thomas Gospel Choir and Big Noise Chorus present a Summer evening of uplifting song at the wonderful Mint Methodist Church. All proceeds to Balloons, Devon. Tickets can be purchased via www.stthomasgospel.org.uk at just £6 each
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Our pamper evening made £662 which has been match funded by Basepoint bringing it up to £1324!!! Many thanks and well done to Jen Pheby and everyone else who supported this event.
What a great day out for all! Thanks so much to all who helped make it such a success.
With help from Southgate Publishers, balloons has published a book, Saying Goodbye: helping families deal with pre- and post-bereavement. The 48 page A5 book provides in-depth advice and guidance for adults about how to help children and young people deal with an expected death in the family. The book includes sections about: telling the children; questions children may ask; ways to encourage communication between adults and children; creating lasting memories together and dealing with death.
The authors. Clare Selley is a nurse who has specialised in cancer treatment and palliative care. She has been trained in Child and Adolescent bereavement and she is a founder member of balloons.
Deborah Butler is the Family Support Worker for balloons. She has a postgraduate diploma in counselling children and young people and many years of experience in this field.
Saying Goodbye has been supported by the NHS and Lottery. The book costs just £3 plus postage. To order a copy phone 01363 776888 or go to www.southgatepublishers.co.uk, where you can view some sample pages.
Duncan Gorst, the Vice President of the University of Exeter Bracton Law Society, kindly invited representatives from balloons to a Charity Gala on Feb 15th at the Thistle Rougemont Hotel in Exeter.
Duncan, his committee and their sponsors, the law firm Burges Salmon, decided that they would dedicate the Gala to balloons, raising money to support our services.
More than 150 students from the University attended the event. There was a drinks reception, a buffet and wonderful music from the University of Exeter Jazz Orchestra. There was a casino provided by Casino Select, with prizes donated by Burges Salmon.
The event raised £725 for balloons, which is a marvellous sum and very much appreciated. We would like to thank Duncan, his team and everyone we met that night - we were made so welcome and we had an excellent time!
Heart FM interviewed Family Worker Deborah Butler, the audio clip's on the Fobs tab of How you can help.