For Maria, joining Pilgrims’ Stepping Stones bereavement services was not just a chance to help, but a deeply personal calling. After the death of her husband, Pilgrims Hospices provided Maria with solace during one of her darkest times. Today, she devotes her time to others on a similar path, facilitating the monthly Bereavement Café and weekly Walk and Talk groups.
Maria’s background in tutoring and patient support had already taught her the power of group support, and her experience with Pilgrims added another layer of understanding. Her journey started as a participant in the Bereavement Café, where she found immediate comfort among volunteers and attendees bound by a shared experience. Surrounded by people who truly understood her grief, Maria felt reassured that her feelings were part of a larger, collective journey.
During her healing process, Maria also sought time outdoors, even traveling to Scotland for a nature-focused bereavement group. Being surrounded by nature’s rhythms brought her a sense of calm and she found essential to her own healing; a concept incorporated into the weekly Walk and Talk group. In these sessions, participants walk side by side, finding peace and connection in the natural surroundings. Maria treasures the 40 minutes they share, spotting wildlife, walking through the changing seasons, and allowing conversations to flow naturally. Afterwards, the group often continues over coffee, sharing stories, laughter, and the beginning of new friendships.
Today, Maria listens with an open heart to those navigating grief, providing the same steady support she once received. She knows how isolating grief can feel, and for many, the group offers a space where they feel comfortable discussing their emotions in a way that might be difficult with family or friends. Maria feels privileged to witness people’s progress, from small victories to blossoming friendships, each a testament to the strength of shared compassion.
Reflecting on her journey with Stepping Stones, Maria describes it as “humbling and profoundly rewarding.” She believes that while there’s no magic fix for grief, the kinship and understanding these groups provide can be life-changing. Having once been carried by this support herself, Maria now finds joy in being a part of someone else’s journey. In her words, “It’s wonderful to be here for others and to help foster the sense of healing and hope that Stepping Stones brings.”
Maria’s journey serves as a reminder that even in times of profound loss, connection and community can guide the path to healing.
National Grief Awareness Week takes place 2-8 December 2024. It raises awareness of the impact of grief and loss on a national platform. To find out more, visit thegoodgrieftrust.org/ngaw.
Pilgrims Hospices is a charity dedicated to providing expert care and support to patients with life-limiting illnesses in east Kent. Our services ensure comfort, dignity, and quality of life for patients and their families, offering compassionate care both in hospice settings and in the community.
6th October 2020
Facing Loss Support Group where all arrive as strangers but leave as friends
Finding yourself bewildered and suffering waves of emotion and grief, after losing someone important in your life, is an enormous challenge for any one person.
Pilgrims Hospices team of counsellors know only too well how overwhelming such dark times can be. The team provide the opportunity for family and friends of hospice patients to share experiences with other people bereaved at a similar time; helping them to understand the impact of grief, and developing strategies to help cope in such difficult times.
Earlier in the year, Pilgrims counsellors Louise Evans and Marion O’Donnell worked closely with members of their ‘Facing Loss’ support group, to provide a safe space to talk and share thoughts and experiences with others who are also coming to terms with loosing someone special.
Although we are unable to meet as face to face groups at the moment, we are #Still Here Still Caring and providing the ‘Facing Loss’ bereavement support as a virtual group, via Zoom calls, until it is safer for us to be with our group users again
Marion – Counsellor
The group has remained in touch by creating a What’s App group and recently met up for a teddy bear’s picnic in St. Augustine’s Priory, Bilsington where social distancing is carried out. Sadly due to weather they had to go inside but it certainly never stopped them enjoying each other’s company.
Marion told us: “It was clear to see the group truly made a wonderful connection and even after the sessions were finished, they continue to support each other with their What’s App group along with meeting up for picnics, lunches and more recently a Birthday celebration. Hopefully when social distancing is a little more relaxed, their coffee stops in a garden centre will resume.”
Sara Barton-Dodson, a support group user said: “My husband Steve passed away in August 2019 whilst in Pilgrims Hospices care at Ashford. He had seen Marion in one to one therapy sessions, therefore I had already met her and knew how counselling had been of benefit to Steve during his treatment for terminal cancer.
“Marion invited me to join the ‘Facing Loss’ group; I knew it would be a good support network for me when coping with the loss of my husband.
“Steve was just 59 years old when he passed away, he had been fighting his cancer for three years. I made a promise to him that I would always stay safe and the ‘Facing Loss’ support group has helped me to do just that.
The group really helped to make a positive difference for me, within our small group, we’ve made firm connections and friendships; I’ve most definitely found many benefits in sharing experiences
Sara Barton-Dodson
“The groups are held at the hospices in Canterbury, Ashford and Thanet. I found them a welcome opportunity to share thoughts and conversations with people who had also lost loved ones. The benefits of talking, sharing your feelings and experiences was like lifting a weight from my shoulders.
“After Steve passed away, people would often say how well I looked; all I really wanted to do was dissolve in to tears, I felt dreadful, it was a completely devastating time. Coming to the group sessions has helped me to become much stronger; cry when I need to and, laugh out loud too!
“Marion and Louise were quite wonderful, with a wealth of knowledge and understanding, they helped all of us to develop coping techniques to guide us through difficult times.
“As the friendships in the group developed we shared photographs of our loved ones, which allowed everyone to know a little more about those loved ones lost.
“The group really helped to make a positive difference for me, within our small group, we’ve made firm connections and friendships; I’ve most definitely found many benefits in sharing experiences.”
Marion added: “Although we are unable to meet as face to face groups at the moment, we are #Still Here Still Caring and providing the ‘Facing Loss’ bereavement support as a virtual group, via Zoom calls, until it is safer for us to be with our group users again.”
Care is provided from three hospice sites in Ashford, Canterbury and Thanet as well as in patients’ own homes. To offer these services to patients and their families the charity must raise £11 million each year from the generous local community.
