Hi I lost my Dad 8 weeks ago. I went to the initial assessment for one-to-one counselling at Cruse Bereavement Counselling, which was very good for me. I'm also on the NHS waiting list for full sessions. I've been informed of a local service that you have to pay for which seems ok but in my situation I can't afford it so will wait to see how the free appointments go before I make a decision to go private. I made a request at Cruse to be seen before Father's Day - the counsellor noted it so hopefully they can fulfil my wishes.
In terms of group activities you're going to find some things work and some don't - it depends on the situation really. I went to a bereavement support group. It was full of people much older than me
but I didn't mind so much as they all friendly and understood somewhat what I was going through (everyone's story is different). The organiser gave a talk about the grieving process, we had tea & cake/ chocolates and then she sat next to me for a nice chat (I spoke to other group members before & after the meeting too). It was lovely speaking to the organiser about my Dad - she said she had a good sense of his personality & character from our conversation. She asked to see a photo and when I showed her she said he had a warm face
I've had to cut out toxic friends out of my life so I'm really open to meeting to new people and hopefully making friends. In went to a Coffee Afternoon at my local library the other day, which was awful! Once again people there were elderly; which was not the prob - it was the fact not many people came up to speak to me
The one person who bothered to chat to me (excluding librarian & the guy who offered me a drink + biscuit) was a lady who despite having good intentions was too nosy imo. She didn't really listen to what I was saying anyway - kept repeating myself. This meeting was at the entrance of the library so it made me feel awkward and uncomfortable talking about my feeling in such an open environment. Coffee mornings/ afternoons are not intended to be bereavement support groups but I thought we would have more privacy. If you're ever invited to one (as suggested to me on a regular visit to the library where I had enquired about support groups in the area) then make sure you are aware what the set-up is so you know can be comfortable in safe confidential surroundings.
I may attend support groups hosted by Cruse and the paid counsellor I talked about earlier is hosting a Bereavement Tea free event. I think they'll be similar to the support group I went too. Hopefully they'll also be younger people there though, just because it's nice to talk to someone you're own age - most older people have lost partners and their parents have passed on a long time ago. It would be good to able to speak to someone going through the same situation as you but I don't really mind as long as they're welcoming
Good luck with everything