Charities helping people deal with grief are offering their support to those who have lost loved ones to coronavirus.

Making Miracles, based in Delting, is giving help and counselling to families who have suffered a miscarriage or baby loss.

The charity says it is extending its services to support people with a relative or friend who has died from coronavirus.

Kelly Wells set up the organisation after she had a high-risk pregnancy.

Her daughter Summer was given a 15% chance of survival after being diagnosed with a rare heart condition while in the womb.

Kelly, who is from Rainham, said: "We have a team of professional qualified counsellors who now have over five years' experience in delivering bereavement counselling to families.

"We have decided that as soon as we are able to open again we will offer our counselling services free of charge to any family within Kent and Medway who have lost a family member to this awful disease and have been unable to attend a funeral or cremation because of it."

The charity – which has a baby loss memorial garden in Rochester – has also launched an appeal which will allow them to share their keepsake teddies with more families.

The teddies have a special compartment in the back to put a photo or keepsake inside and are usually given to children as a memorial to their lost sibling.

To find out more about the charity, visit their website. (https://makingmiracles.org.uk/)

Another charity, Holding On Letting Go (HOLG), has received a grant allowing them to help provide a specialist service to help children prepare for the death of a loved one.

The Rochester-based charity which assists children going through a bereavement gained £25,000 funding.

The money will be put towards programmes to help youngsters in families who have someone they know is going to die.

The grant comes at a time when many of the charity's regular fundraising events have been put on hold or cancelled.

Chief executive Caroline Ford said: “Currently there are limited pre-bereavement support services available for families in the region affected by the diagnosis of a terminal condition.

"At HOLG, we aim to change this with our new project.

"This will provide much-needed pre and post bereavement support to children and young people through a range of specialist interventions to help them cope with their emotions and build lasting memories of their loved one.

“Unfortunately, with the coronavirus, many more families will be facing bereavement and we will be there to support should they need us.”

To find out more about HOLG, visit their website. (http://holdingonlettinggo.org.uk/)

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