Thousands helped by SeeSaw (From The Oxford Times)

Thousands helped by SeeSaw

8:10am Thursday 29th December 2011 in Voluntary

Times of celebration such as Eid or New Year are looked forward to as times for seeing family and friends.

But for children grieving the death of a family member these normally joyful occasions can be particularly painful and complicated.

So, especially at this time of year, SeeSaw helps Oxfordshire’s grieving children and their families to balance these ups and downs - to find ways to celebrate whilst remembering past years - to have fun amidst the sadness.

SeeSaw has already supported over 2,500 children and young people throughout Oxfordshire. We do this with a small team of paid staff, a group of dedicated Trustees and a team of volunteer support workers who provide many of the face-to-face visits to young people. As a small local charity, SeeSaw has been kept going by the generosity of local people who have really taken us to their hearts.

Volunteers have always been at the heart of SeeSaw, so we were thrilled to have this recognized at OCVA’s 2011 Oxfordshire Charity and Volunteer Awards, where we were judged best in the ‘Good Practice in Management of Volunteers’ category. One of our longest-serving volunteer support workers also collected an individual award.

Our supporters come with an incredibly broad range of interests and skills. Not everyone has the dedication, or time to train as a volunteer support worker, so an alternative way of helping is to fundraise for SeeSaw. We have plenty of suggestions and advice to help you do this and we even have a fire-walk planned for February 2012 and are looking for brave souls/soles to participate!

We will be running a training course for new volunteer support workers in the New Year. To find out how to apply for this, contact SeeSaw on 01865 744768 or email info@seesaw.org.uk.

If you are interested in helping SeeSaw raise funds to support our work please contact Jane Elliott on 01865 744768 or email fundraiser@seesaw.org.uk.

To everyone who’s already worked so hard to help us support bereaved children over the years – a big thank you!

Visit www.seesaw.org.uk for further information about supporting bereaved children.