Anam Cara

 

Anam Cara is a national organisation who supports bereaved parents left bereft and devastated by the death of their child. The vision of Anam Cara is that every family throughout Ireland will have the relevant support services they need following the death of their son or daughter.

Founded in 2008, by bereaved parents, Anam Cara address the lack of bereavement support services available for families in Ireland, who have experienced the death of a child.  In particular, the families whose son or daughter died suddenly outside a hospital or hospice system who often find themselves beyond the realms of any bereavement services, struggling to cope with the intense grief and huge loss in their lives. Since its inception, Anam Cara has supported over 14,000 bereaved parents, close to 1,600 in 2020 alone. This support service is completely free of charge and available to all bereaved parents regardless of circumstances of death or age of their child.

Anam Cara Group Support meetings are held monthly across 12 locations. Last April, Anam Cara had made the difficult decision to suspend their face-to-face support groups throughout the island of Ireland. However, they are now offering their services online. For parents wishing to attend these meetings, they need to contact Anam Cara directly on 085 2888 888 to register.

Anam Cara are hopeful that they will return to their face-to-face support meetings along with their Bereavement Information Evenings in the very near future. At the latter evenings, those attending will have the opportunity to speak with professionals from various organisations along with Anam Cara staff, who parents may wish to link in with it. With the support of funding, Anam Cara hope that they can continue to offer parents the option of online groups, to ensure they can facilitate all parents.

Another fantastic resource, is the organisations website. It contains relevant information for bereaved parents including links to the Anam Cara Information packs.  This pack contains the following leaflets; A Fathers grief, A Mothers Grief, Coping with the Sudden death of my Child, Milestones and Challenges, Self-Care, Supporting my Family, Living with no Surviving Children. You can find all this excellent information on www.anamcara.ie

On the website, bereaved parents can also access the Anam Cara support videos. These, they hope, will help parents feel less isolated in these challenging times.

For parents who do not have access to the internet they can contact Anam Cara on their information line 085 2888 888 from Monday to Friday. They can post out the Anam Cara information Packs or forward on information about other local services that may be of help to them.

Customers of New Mood will soon be able to make a difference and support bereaved parents all over the country. We will add an option in our at the check out after making your purchase to allow you to donate €1 to Anam Cara. Every cent will go to ensuring bereaved parents continue to have this vital service.

In the meantime, you can make a donation here - https://anamcara.ie/shop/donate/

Speaking of this partnership, Founder and CEO of Anam Cara, Sharon Vard commented “we are privileged to be the beneficiaries of the funds raised through this initiative and every cent will be well spent. Thank you to Michelle and Patsy for this opportunity to raise awareness of Anam Cara and ensure that our support services continue both face to face and online into the future through customers donations”