WiOGA has once again designed a bracelet to help children & young people in grief.

Marlene Westergaard has designed a bracelet in collaboration with Children, Young People & Grief. The bracelet is intended to help children who have lost a parent or sibling before they turn 28.

Many children and young people in Denmark learn about death far too early in life. Every year, 7,000 children and young people lose a mother, father, sister or brother and 130,000 children and young people experience a mother, father, sister or brother developing a serious illness. Almost 80,000 children and young people in Denmark have experienced the loss of a parent or sibling before they turned 28.

"After I became a widow 3 years ago and was left alone with my two small children, I fell into depression and became afraid of having to be left alone with all the responsibility. I was shaking and felt really bad that I couldn't handle my children's grief. It was a difficult and hard struggle to get through everyday life and I felt terribly lonely the whole process.

Fortunately, my son Willads got a place at Børn, Unge & Sorg. They helped my son deal with his grief, but they also supported me in my grieving process, which gave me the extra push forward that I so desperately needed.”

"My son was 5 years old when he lost his father and was in great grief and I had difficulty dealing with his grief. After waiting for half a year, he got a place with a psychologist. It was a great help for both of us, he thought it was nice that he could open up to someone other than me. To this day, we have learned to live with the grief, we think back on him with good memories but we have learned to be a family of three," says Marlene Westergaard.

We hope you will help support children, youth & grief.
The bracelet costs 249 kr. and all proceeds go directly to Håbets Aktie and Børn, Unge & Sorg. The bracelets can be purchased in gold-plated silver. The bracelet has 4 colors with the half-ass fire – Blue (aventurine), red (garnet), pink (Chinese rhodonite) and green (malachite). The blue is a symbol for boys, the red is for love, the pink is for girls and the green is for hope, as well as silver beads plated with 14 carat gold, which are put on a fine black nylon cord that symbolizes grief.

The funds raised will go towards shortening the waiting time for children and young people whose lives are ruined by grief. In 2017, we experienced a large increase – 20 percent – ​​in the number of inquiries we received. And right now, we have more than 200 children and young people on the waiting list. 
In the Hope Share campaign, we try to give a very strong voice to those it's all about; namely children and young people themselves - but also adults who have lost someone early in life who can tell us about the consequences of grief.

Children, Youth & Grief is Denmark's leading organization within professional grief treatment. For almost 20 years, the organization has offered free help to relatives and bereaved children and young people. In 2016, Children, Youth & Grief received the Crown Prince Couple's Social Award for the organization's groundbreaking work and in 2017 established the National Grief Center to strengthen the organization's knowledge and research work.

Children, Youth & Grief supports and helps around 2,000 relatives and bereaved children and young people annually. We are Denmark's only free and specialized grief treatment service for children and young people with severe grief reactions.

"We cannot prevent or eliminate grief. Grief is the price of love. But for many children and young people the price is too high. Children, Youth & Grief is a safety net for children, young people and families when lightning strikes. But we cannot do it alone. We need all of Denmark to have a stake in it if we are to prevent more children and young people from being left alone when the worst happens." This is what Søren Bregendal, who is responsible for campaigns at Children, Youth & Grief, says.