Grief comes to all of us at one stage or another and so Liz and Michelle wanted to tackle the subject head-on with the CEO and Founder of The Good Grief Trust, Linda Magistris.

Join them as they discuss everything from the lack of support for bereaved families to dealing with both the shorter and longer-term impact of losing someone close to you. They also explore the reasons why death is such a taboo subject in the modern world and why it needs to change.

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• There is a lack of centralised support in the health industry for bereavement. Health professionals are very inconsistent in the support and resources they offer to people suffering from grief.
• Dealing with death isn’t just what happens after you have lost someone. Pre-bereavement support can be invaluable.
• When founding The Good Grief Trust, Linda recognised that she needed to take things online. So that she could tailor support for every situation as well as keep them continually up to date.
• Linda’s media background reassured her that she would be able to get a lot of great recognition and support for the charity for free. To date, she has some incredible patrons of the charity including actor Dame Penelope Wilton DBE and former Wham member Shirlie kemp as well as Linda’s former co-star on Grange Hill Todd Carty, and actor, Greg Wise.
• Connecting various organizations and groups together was one of Linda’s main drives in building The Good Grief Trust. So that everyone could work together to create a strong network of support for anyone and everyone that needs it.
• There are so many different forms and types of grief, it is essential people get tailored support for what they are going through.
• We often don’t know how to support those around us suffering from grief, but being compassionate and kind can mean the world to someone, even if you don’t have the right words.
• There is no timeline for grief. It can also change. What you might need one day might be totally different a week or even an hour later. People need compassion, patience and understanding.

BEST MOMENTS 

“If the health professionals don’t know of the big national charities, they need to have that information, they need to know what is available for everyone”

“Bereavement is everyone's business. Bereavement is something that all of us are going to experience at one time”

“There is no timeline for grief”

“There’s an absolute lack of kindness and understanding”

“Your grief is unique”

EPISODE RESOURCES 

The Good Grief Trust

ABOUT THE GUEST    

Linda Magistris

Linda first met her partner Graham Theakston when she was an actress in the original cast of Grange Hill in 1978. Graham was one of the directors and by chance, they met again 30 years later.

She had been running a portfolio of businesses since they first worked together, from a Wedding Consultancy to Vintage Tea Rooms, and Graham was a BAFTA-winning success in TV and Film and they spent 8 very happy years together until sadly he was diagnosed with a rare soft tissue sarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer, and died five and half months later.

After his death, Linda struggled to cope with her grief, with limited access or knowledge around the support services that could help her individual needs. She realised that the UK did not have one central signposting resource to help health professionals in their work supporting the bereaved and so in 2016 The Good Grief Trust charity and website was launched. The Good Grief Trust is now the UK’s leading bereavement network, with over 900 charities and support services under one umbrella.  

Linda’s vision is to ensure that no-one who is grieving falls through the net, and that anyone bereaved under any circumstance knows they are not alone and that there is help and hope for a way forward with their life. 

‘Grief can be complicated, but access to support should never be’

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