Archie’s Child Bereavement Service is offered free of charge to families within Grampian, Tayside, the Highlands and Orkney. The service supports families and professionals who are working with children and young people.
We recognise that every child is different, and we believe that with appropriate support, information and guidance, all children and young people will manage their grief. ACBS supports children who have experienced bereavement no matter the relationship.
The majority of referrals we receive are from schools (41%) and health professionals (35%) reflecting our close partnership-working with these key sectors.
We offer a wide range of services, which are carefully tailored to suit the individual needs of the child and their family.
Each enquiry we receive is personally followed up by our highly experienced coordinators, who through an initial phone conversation assess how best to support the child or young person. For some families, this might be all the support they need but others may access many more of the services on offer.
ARCHIE’s Child Bereavement Service is managed by Malcolm, our bereavement services manager. We have eight bereavement support workers, Aleysha, Cath and Jenny in Grampian, Vikki and Pam in Tayside (with a current vacancy) and Jim and Yvonne in Highlands, who provide direct support, advice and guidance to bereaved children and young people. We also have three coordinators, Kevin, Catherine and Tracey who will be your first point of contact if you call or email into the service. Our coordinators can provide support and guidance to parents, carers and professionals who are supporting a bereaved child.
The team are supported by our wonderful volunteers who also provide direct support to children and young people.
ACBS is further supported by a committee headed up by our Chairperson Jo Grieve. Our committee has members from various relevant professions and ex service users.
We hope that in sharing information, tips and guidance we can provide some degree of instant comfort for parents and carers who are struggling to support a child when someone they love has died. Information is categorised by the age of the child but bear in mind that all children are different in how they process and manage their grief.
Please fill out the below form if you have used Archie Child Bereavement Service. Your feedback will allow us to promote or change parts of our service.
Children and Young Person Feedback Form
Meet Emily, an incredible young girl who is facing the world without her beloved Dad. Following his unexpected death from Covid, Emily was supported by our Bereavement Support Worker, Jane.
Emily and her Mum bravely told their story as part of Children in Need 2022.
“She allowed him to be part of our lives as soon as he left and created a dialogue where we could talk about him.”