The Parish Trust has been awarded multi-year funding to design and pilot a new youth bereavement support programme, marking a significant development in the charity’s work with children and young people across the Caerphilly Basin and wider Gwent area.
The funding, awarded through the Gwent High Sheriffs’ Community Fund in partnership with Community Foundation Wales and the Office of the Gwent Police & Crime Commissioner, will support the development of a structured, peer-based programme for young people who have experienced loss.
The award follows a competitive participatory funding event held at Llanhilleth Miners Institute, where community organisations presented their work and future plans, with funding decisions informed by peer voting. The Parish Trust was one of only two organisations to receive multi-year funding, recognising both the need for bereavement support among young people and the charity’s track record of delivering community-based services.
Over the next three years, The Parish Trust will design and pilot a youth bereavement course aimed at providing safe, accessible spaces for young people to explore grief, understand their experiences, and support one another. The programme will be based at the Trethomas Life Centre, with the potential to extend its reach more widely across the region.
The initiative builds on The Parish Trust’s bereavement support for adults, and its broader work supporting families and young people, including its Baby Bank, toddler groups, youth provision, and holiday activities. The new programme reflects a growing recognition that bereavement, while a universal human experience, often lacks accessible and appropriate support for younger age groups.
Rev. Dean Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of The Parish Trust, said:
“Multi-year funding gives us the space to begin this work properly. As we design and pilot our youth bereavement programme, it allows us to take a thoughtful, measured approach, listening carefully to young people and learning what genuinely helps. Over the next three years, it will help us build a small but meaningful provision for young people in our community, so that those experiencing loss know they are not alone and have somewhere to turn.”
The funding will enable the charity to take a measured and evidence-informed approach, ensuring the programme is shaped by the needs and experiences of young people themselves. It is expected that insights from the pilot will inform future development and potential expansion of bereavement support provision.
The Parish Trust has expressed its gratitude to the funders and partners involved, including the Gwent Nurture Trust, highlighting the importance of long-term investment in enabling sustainable, community-led solutions to complex challenges.
The programme is expected to begin its initial development phase later this year.
