A £3,000 Your Hearts and Minds Community Grant is supporting people struggling with grief in North Lincolnshire.
Long waiting lists for bereavement counselling in the area have led people experiencing loss and grief to have increased anxiety and stress, but thanks to our funding, Oatridge Coaching has been able to continue to provide a monthly Grief Café, which was initially piloted in 2024, as well as places on a day-long Grief Awareness course for local people.
We recently visited the Grief Café, which runs on the first Wednesday of every month at Oasis Community Space on Avenue Vivian in Scunthorpe and offers a relaxed, welcoming environment with its own café and library in the heart of the Crosby area of the town.
We were welcomed by Grief Coach Jonathan Oatridge and Alistair, who attends the monthly café.
Alistair told us:
“I attended the Grief Awareness Course and started coming to the café after losing my wife last September.
“I’ve found it so helpful to chat with other people, particularly Jonathan, just to understand that what I’m feeling is completely normal, and that there’s no right or wrong way of coping, everyone grieves differently.
“It feels like a safe space to discuss how I’m feeling and I’m able to really open up and be totally honest. It’s helped me more than anyone will ever know and I’m so grateful to Jonathan for the support.”
The Café and awareness courses are open to patients, carers, and health staff to increase their confidence and remove some of the barriers in talking about death and dying. They also help people to build greater personal resilience as they support patients and loved ones, as well as providing tools for navigating difficult conversations.
Jonathan said:
“For many people death is still a taboo subject they don’t feel comfortable talking openly about.
“When a loved one dies, grief affects the people left behind in many different ways, and at the Grief Café and in the awareness sessions we take the time to talk about what factors might affect the way someone is grieving, and what the process might look like.
“We talk in a group setting about everyone’s individual experiences and share tips and advice on coping, it’s so important to have the opportunity to talk openly, and many people feel a real relief that they’re able to share their feelings with others who are going through similar experiences.”
Grant funded places to the Grief Awareness sessions are available to Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) staff, patients, peers and carers and full details on the future dates are available on our staff app, or at Oatridge Coaching.
The Grief Café normally runs on the first Wednesday of each month (although check the website for confirmed dates), from 5:30pm to 6:30pm at Oasis Community Space, contact details and a map is available on Live Well North Lincolnshire.
Published: September 05, 2025