THE IMPACT YOUR KINDNESS HAS ON YOUNG PEOPLE GRIEVING.
Canteen’s Good Grief program allows young people to strengthen their connection to a loved one who has passed away from cancer.
You’re not only standing beside young people facing cancer, you’re also supporting the siblings whose lives are forever changed when they lose someone they love. Because of you, young people who have lost a sibling to cancer can receive the support and connection they desperately need.
Every young person experiences grief differently. Your kindness makes sure no young person has to face it alone. You help provide tailored support that brings them together with others who truly understand what they’re going through.
Ash is one of our psychosocial clinicians, working directly with young people every day. She sees firsthand how your support changes lives.
“Something people may not realise is that bereaved siblings can sometimes feel left in the shadows. This can start from being left at home a lot and not seeing family as often as they are in the hospital, and then people forgetting to check up on the bereaved young person and only checking in with the parents. Sometimes the pendulum swings the other way, and young people experience parents who are on hyper alert, or there is pressure for the bereaved sibling to carry on the legacy of their lost sibling.”
This is why the right kind of support matters. Thanks to you, young people can access counselling, in-person and online programs, and events where they can meet others with a shared experience. Your support also ensures that bereaved siblings and their needs are included in research, community work, and education and career guidance.
One of the most important places your generosity shows up is through the Good Grief program. Over three days, young people from all across the country come together to meet others who “just get it”. Specially trained staff provide support and run workshops designed to help process grief, build coping tools, and feel genuinely understood.
Ash recently supported a young person who had lost his brother, his best friend, to cancer.
“He came to a session so excited, he’d discovered his perfect career, a radiation therapist. Combining his love of science, people, and supporting those who are going through what his brother went through.”
Programs like Good Grief and the vital work of psychosocial clinicians like Ash are only possible because of you, our CanDo Family. You are giving bereaved siblings a safe place to express their grief, feel understood, and connect with others who have been through it too.
Thank you for choosing to stand with young people during the hardest moments of their lives.