Community Grief Connect: Spring 2024

A supportive space to sip and snack morning tea; we'll practice reflecting, listening and sharing our experiences of love, life, loss... and the liminal spaces between.

Maybe your sorrow is very old, recent or emerging; you are welcome. Maybe you're seeking solace, solidarity, or simply a place to be, join us in this compassionate morning of connnection. Your presence matters.

This is a community event and all are welcome. May we strengthen the bonds between us and the wider world.

Bring what makes you feel comfortable, a water bottle, journal and pen.

We will be held and grounded by fertile Bundjalung soil at Mullum's beloved Paddock Project - kindly hosted by Karen and her dedicated team.

This is a community event. Your donation ($5/10) helps cover costs for refreshments // 100% of donations go to Paddock Project. Please RSVP here so we can cater appropriately and send you a reminder.

LEAD FACILITATOR // Emma Beattie [she/her] - Before & After Life
Emma has worked, studied and volunteered in caring and deathing since 2020.  She brings an animistic, creative and poetic lens to caring, deathing and grieving. Her death and dying work and studies intersect a long line of lived experienced with personal loss. Her professional origins reside in strategic thinking, storytelling and social impact. She offers practical supports, education and facilitation for people, families, and groups via term courses, workshops, community meets and retreats. Emma is a home hospice volunteer, member of Palliative Care NSW, NALAG (National Assoc. for Loss and Grief), NDAN (Natural Death Advocacy Network) and is an advocate for Compassionate Communities Australia.

The morning aims to offer a practice of deep listening, sharing and care supports, this is community grief support and run voluntarily. Attendees are encouraged to engage responsibly and ask for/seek additional supports if needed.

Services that offer help and support include:

• Lifeline—phone 13 11 14 for free counselling and support (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Lifeline also provides information about other grief counselling services.
• The Compassionate Friends, Queensland— peer support for parents, siblings and grandparents after the death of a child.  Call 1300 064 068 to speak with someone else who has experienced child loss and understands.
• Sands—if you have suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth or newborn death, call 1300 072 637 to speak to someone who understands.
• beyondblue—call 1300 224 636 if you are feeling depressed and want to talk to a trained professional about your problems (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
• Parentline—phone 1300 301 300 for counselling and support for parents (8am–10pm, 7 days a week).
• Kids Help Line—if you are aged 5–25, call 1800 551 800 for free counselling (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
• MensLine Australia—call 1300 789 978 for professional support and advice for men (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
• SANE helpline Information, advice and referral for mental illness. Phone 1800 187 263
• 13YARN Crisis support line for mob. One-on-one yarning with Lifeline-trained Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander crisis supporters. Phone 13 92 76 (24 hrs)