Grieving mum sure son would be' proud' of mental health award

Charmaine (right) and her son Ewan (left)

Charmaine George, whose son Ewan died aged 18, is sure he'd "be proud" after she was presented with a mental health award in his memory.

Charmaine, from Cornwall, was given the prize by Caroline Flack's mother Christine at the Who Cares Wins awards.

She received the Caroline Flack Mental Health Hero award for starting grief cafés with the Good Grief Trust,

They're spaces where people who are grieving can meet with others in a similar situation.

Former Love Island host Caroline died in February 2020, aged 40. Charmaine lost Ewan last year too.

'Struggling to cope'

"Our lives were turned upside down in a flash and it was hard, I was struggling to cope with how to live without him," Charmaine tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

Charmaine's son Ewan George was found dead at the bottom of cliffs at Portreath last year, with his inquest concluding there was not enough evidence to support a conclusion of suicide.

"How do you live your life without one of your children? It was very difficult."

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Ewan (right) with his sister Libby (left)

Charmaine says it can be difficult to even get up some mornings, but talking about her loss helps her move forward.

She found some pages for grieving parents but thought they were "quite intense".

"So I just looked at Good Grief and coincidentally they were looking for volunteers to set up these grief cafes."

"I'm a really sociable person so for me that was ideal. And it's almost a year to the day that I set them up."

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She's seen a lot of people coming in and out of the cafes, with people having lost loved ones in different circumstances.

The cafe has "helped with grief and mental health".

"I've seen the benefits for others, it really does help having a connection with other people that understand."

"The most important thing is that it's people who just understand each other, we know that each of us is grieving. We can talk and you know that the other person completely understands and gets it."

Charmaine describes Ewan as having "the biggest smile, the most beautiful blue eyes", and making friends wherever he went.

Big names such as Prince William, David Beckham and PM Boris Johnson attended the event, and Charmaine says Ewan would have been "absolutely gutted that he wasn't with me to see all the celebrities".

"But I'm sure he'd be proud of both myself for what I've done and his sister and dad."

"How we've coped and tried our best to be living life because I think he would want us to be living a positive life," she adds.

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