CHARITY
Support- Teesside Hospice’ s Gary Gray explains the increase in bereavement counselling.
Supporting children and young people through bereavement
Teesside Hospice has seen a 55.5 % increase in the number of children and young people supported through its bereavement counselling services in the past year.
The hospice provides bereavement counselling to children and young people aged seven and above, dealing with what is known as complex grief.
From April 2025 to March 2026, the counselling team supported 84 children and young people, a significant increase from 54 in the previous year.
Gary Gray, head of counselling at Teesside Hospice, said:“ We continue to support an increasing number of children and young people experiencing bereavement across Teesside.
“ Year on year, we receive more referrals for bereavement support, reflecting both the growing need for bereavement counselling services and increased awareness of the help available.
“ We have seen a significant rise in the number of children and young people accessing counselling, as conversations around death, dying and grief become more open and accepted.
“ This greater willingness to talk about bereavement is helping to reduce stigma, break down barriers to seeking support and encourage earlier access to counselling services when they are needed most.
“ The increasing demand for our service highlights the clear need for accessible, specialist bereavement support across
Teesside.
“ At Teesside Hospice, we are committed to ensuring that children, young people and adults affected by bereavement can access compassionate, professional support during some of the most challenging times in their lives.
“ We believe that support should not be determined by where a loved one has died; therefore, our services are available to anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one or other significant person, regardless of the circumstances of their loss, provided the bereavement occurred at least six months ago.
“ Our services include specialist oneto-one bereavement counselling, group support sessions for children and young people, and a bereavement café, which takes place fortnightly at Teesside Hospice, offering a welcoming space for people to connect with others who have experienced loss.”
The hospice has now published its Impact Report for 2025-2026, which highlights the increase in demand for care and support from patients and families across the Tees Valley.
In addition to the increase in children’ s bereavement support, the hospice has also seen demand rise across its Inpatient Unit, Wellbeing Centre and Lymphoedema Clinic.
The Wellbeing Centre, which offers enriching activities and social groups for patients and carers, has had an 18 % increase in individual patients supported through its groups, while the average length of stay on the Inpatient Unit has also increased to 17 days, highlighting the need for longer periods of care.
The specialist Lymphoedema Clinic also saw a significant rise in appointment contacts, increasing to more than 4,000 from April 2025 to March 2026.
It will cost £ 7.5m to operate the hospice’ s services this year, with only around 30 % of this cost covered by statutory funding. Teesside Hospice must raise the rest to continue providing this care and compassion at no cost to the local community.
Gary added:“ We really appreciate all the support we receive from our community and we simply couldn’ t cope with this rise in demand without supporters.
“ We’ re here for everyone across Teesside and it’ s our mission to ensure everyone has access to the best care possible.
“ We impact so many lives across the region and we want to continue to do so – which is why we need your support. Thank you for standing with Teesside Hospice.”
To find out more about Teesside Hospice and read the latest impact report, which includes information about the care provided and patients supported, visit teessidehospice. org.
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