Crematorium workers walk 30 miles for national grief awareness week

£600 was raised following the nine-hour sponsored walk from Liverpool to Salford to mark National Grief Awareness Week.

Twelve members of the North West Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM) completed a sponsored walk yesterday.

The campaign, driven by The Good Grief Trust, aims to normalise grief and encourage people to get talking about what can be an uncomfortable subject.

The walk, which spanned 30 miles from Anfield Crematorium Management, Liverpool to the Agecroft Crematorium, Salford, took nine hours to complete.

Matthew Crawley, Technical Services Officer for the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management, said: “As part of the Good Grief Trust, we’re trying to arrange signposting for charities to do with bereavement services across the country.

“The institute’s North West branch has just been set up, so we thought it would be a good idea to bring the two organisations together and walk through several counties as we do it.”

The Good Grief Trust, run by the bereaved for the bereaved, aim to develop the UK’s leading fully comprehensive online bereavement support website, to provide support both for the bereaved, and for the health professionals who support them.

Matthew continued: “There’s a massive stigma with talking about grief, and that taboo needs breaking.”

As the Christmas period nears, the effects of grief can weigh upon those who have lost loved ones- a struggle which the ICCM are no stranger to.

Barry Ellis, Bereavement Services Manager for Salford City Council, spoke about how Christmas can be a difficult time: “It can be a difficult time of year for people, there’s a lot of people who have lost somebody throughout the year and Christmas brings it all back to them.”

The aim of the walk was to raise awareness, alongside some extra funds for the Good Grief Trust during the festive period, a feat which team achieved, after £600 was raised for the trust.

Ellis explained: “I’m made up, I think we’ve done really well.

“There’s a lot that’s gone into this, we’ve worked as a team and raised a lot of money and awareness.”

Grief Awareness Week takes place from December 2nd to December 8th. Information and support regarding grief awareness and the Good Grief Trust can be found here.