Bereaved children in Blackburn gain a new route to support

Lifestyle & Wellness Desk 2026-10-16 12:06 3 min read

Group of six women standing together with arms around each other in a park.

Families in Blackburn with Darwen can access free bereavement support for children and young people through The Wave Project, delivered by Lancashire Mind and funded by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. The service is for ages 5 to 18, or up to 25 for young people with additional needs. Parents, carers and schools can also receive support.

Who can access The Wave Project

The programme is for children and young people who have been bereaved. Young people with additional needs can access it up to age 25. Support is also available for parents and carers, recognising that a death can affect the wider family as well as the child.

The council commissioned the service to provide emotional and practical help after a bereavement. Its early intervention approach is intended to offer timely support and help prevent distress from escalating into longer-term mental health difficulties. The source does not set out further referral criteria, so families should ask the project whether a particular situation is eligible.

What support is available

Children and young people can take part in an eight-session peer support programme. It offers a space to talk about bereavement and meet others with a shared experience. A separate programme is available for parents and carers, so adults supporting a bereaved child can access help too.

Schools can get training, advice and resources to help staff respond to bereaved pupils with confidence. This gives school staff information to support a child beyond the programme sessions, while the project also provides direct support to young people and their families.

Bereaved children in Blackburn gain a new route to support

The service expects to support around 120 children, young people, parents and carers each year. Its planned annual provision includes up to 70 therapeutic group sessions for children and young people and 30 sessions for parents and carers. These are service-wide annual figures, not a stated number of sessions for each family; the individual programme length specified for children and young people is eight sessions.

How families and schools can get help

The council announcement says families can access support or make a referral through The Wave Project. It does not give contact details, session locations or instructions for starting a referral. Check the project’s current information, or contact Lancashire Mind or Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council to ask how to access the service. Schools seeking training, advice or resources can also contact the project to find out what is available.

The service was launched at a Family Day at Ewood Park, attended by around 100 local residents. Young people with lived experience of bereavement helped choose the project’s name and branding. The project has been commissioned for an initial two years, with an option to extend for a further two years, and forms part of the council’s wider mental wellbeing work and its Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Strategy.

Source: Blackburn with Darwen Council News

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This report uses the supplied Blackburn with Darwen Council News account and checks its stated eligibility, programme details and commissioning period against that account.

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Checked the stated age range and extension for young people with additional needs.
Checked the programmes described for young people, parents, carers and schools.
Checked the annual support estimates and initial commissioning period.

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