Shropshire family backs call for bereavement lessons in school

Immy and her family are backing the campaign after the death of mum Kerry Leith from cancer

School lessons on bereavement could help children deal with the loss of a close family member, a group has said.

The parent of someone under 18 dies every 22 minutes in the UK, according to Child Bereavement UK.

The National Association of Funeral Directors, which said its members often have to act as counsellors, is organising a petition to get the matter debated in Parliament.

They are backed by Immy, of Shropshire, who was 10 when she lost her mum.

Kerry Leith had been diagnosed with cancer two years previously when her daughter was eight.

Now 12, she has become the face of a campaign to get lessons in bereavement taught in school.

Immy spoke to school friends about her mum's death and the process of grief

On the day the BBC met her she spoke about her mother's death to fellow year eight pupils at Oldbury Wells School in Bridgnorth.

She told friends Lucy, James, Evie and Carly that dealing with the death had been difficult and how it would have been beneficial to have been able to speak about her feelings with people her own age.

"I think it would have been better to talk about my feelings more," she said.

"Nobody really said anything about it... if anything was mentioned about it, everybody was really supportive, and nobody said anything."

The family including dad, Richard, younger brother Josh and older sister Rebecca were helped by local funeral director John Adams at Perry & Phillips.

His mother died when he was 12.

"We were really lucky that John walked into our home on that morning, not just as a person who'd come to collect the body, but he took the kids aside and said 'this is about you, you're at the centre of this,'" said Mr Leith.

Richard Leith believes lessons could help better prepare children for bereavement

Mr Adams said he believed more could be done in schools to prepare children in case the worst happens and is calling for one age-appropriate lesson taught to children during PHSE classes.

"It's about showing people going through a loss that they're not on their own, and it's about helping to instil some compassion and empathy into classrooms across the UK," he said.

"[It's about]helping teachers… and also about giving tools to young people."

As president of the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) this year, he has helped launch an online petition to try to get the issue debated in Parliament, and recently raised the matter with King Charles.

Richard Leith agrees with John, and wishes other families could be better prepared for a bereavement.

"I think we look at grieving as a process you can use to move away from that really tragic event, and start to figure out what the rest of your life is without that person there," he said.

John Adams raised the issue of bereavement lessons with King Charles

Immy has already raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities, having walked the equivalent of the distance between Land's End and John O'Groats around her home town last year.

When she finished her walk she switched on Bridgnorth's Christmas lights.

"Just being able to talk about it has helped so much more than before," she told her friends as they discussed her mum's death.

She also wanted to know how her friends felt asking her about such a difficult subject. "A bit weird," said one, but they agreed it had been worthwhile doing so.

Kerry Leith died from cancer when Immy was 10 years old

Some schools already include lessons on the subject, but they are in the minority.

The Leith family and the NAFD hope more will choose to discuss this most difficult of subjects in the future.

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