National bereavement helpline prepares for calls spike ahead of Queen's funeral
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Cruse Scotland, the nation’s leading bereavement support charity, has prepared for an increase in calls to their bereavement helpline ahead of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
In their experience of other significant events, such as the sudden death of Princess Diana, terrorist attacks such as 9/11, and more recently the pandemic, the organisation is only too familiar with the impact the death of the Queen will be having on members of the public.
Opening hours for the free bereavement support line have been extended for Saturday and Sunday in the run up to the state funeral of Her Majesty and on Monday when people may be needing additional grief support following the funeral. Opening hours will be 10am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday and 9am-9pm on Monday.
Fiona Arnott-Barron, chief executive of Cruse Scotland says, “through this period of national mourning, our helpline is primed to cope with an uptake in calls from people across Scotland, who on top of grieving for a loved one, are also mourning Her Majesty the Queen. Many people are experiencing what is termed as ‘social grief’ and this can add to people’s existing grief, and they find it harder to process and navigate their grief without additional support.”
Fiona added, “Since the Queen died, we have witnessed large scale expressions of ‘social grief’ people are questioning their feelings as they didn’t even have a close relationship to the Queen or, they‘ve never even met her. However, this is completely normal to have such a strong emotional response when something of this significance happens.
"Some people who have reached out for support, tell us that, ‘it feels like it did when I lost my grandmother’ and whilst it is different, we need to recognise that the Queen did in fact play a key role in so many of our lives. When you stop and think about it, she was present in our key celebrations such as Christmas Day and was the prominent figure who would offer words of comfort and support in the aftermath of tragedies. Her death comes quickly on the heels of the whole nation celebrating her Platinum Jubilee and she has been a constant in all our lives for 70 years.”
It is anticipated that the helpline will experience increased requests for support beyond the funeral on Monday September 19 and the charity have taken steps to expand their reach during this period of mourning and people can call the helpline on 0808 802 6161 or use the webchat facility at crusescotland.org.uk to speak to a professional counsellor online.
