Bags For Strife

About BAGS for Strife Absolutely nothing prepares you for loss by suicide. For all of us who set up the charity, it’s so important to do something in honour & in memory of those we lost, and we can only hope through our own experience, we can offer some support through the darkest of days. We reached out to friends and family who all have experienced loss in this way and asked them to describe their most prominent emotions in the following months. The common feelings were Blame, Anger, Guilt and Sadness. Why? We were struck by the lack of accessible support for families and friends in the aftermath of loss by suicide and having reached out to others who have been through similar circumstances, we realised that our experience was not unique. Whilst there are a range of services “out there”, the issue appears to be a lack of knowledge/accessibility/geographical variation/timeliness of these. In response, we have subsequently established BAGS for Strife – a charity that is steered and led by a group of people with their own lived experience of suicide and its aftermath. What? We know that everyone’s experience of grief and loss is unique. BAGs will provide practical and emotional support both for the short and long term and will include: • support and advice on what to do and where to go for help (both for the family but also for the wider network of friends who may want to do something but are unsure what they can/should do). Our aim is not to replicate existing services but rather make them easier to find and access for those bereaved • Little book of help which is a book of our stories of those we have lost which we hope will help families see that they are not alone and what they are going through and feeling is “normal”. • Items to help with the physical effects of a bereavement from water as a reminder to keep hydrated, to a beautiful journal to help with thoughts and feelings To donate click here