Funded by the Greater Manchester Suicide Prevention Programme, this training is being delivered by Luna Foundation between 16-23 November 2023, during Children’s Grief Awareness Week. It is specifically for professionals working with children aged up to five in any of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester.

Luna Suicide Bereavement Training for Early Years Practitioners is designed for those working with children aged 0-5 in a range of settings including nursery and pre-school staff, foster carers, childminders and nannies.

The three-hour online session provides practical tips, knowledge and confidence to help reduce the long-term emotional and psychological impact faced by children in early years who lose a parent, or other significant person, to suicide.

Luna will share how to best support young children after a parent dies by suicide, what language to use and to avoid, how to spot changes in behaviour, where to signpost for specialist support and what age-appropriate resources are available.

The session will provide practical tips, knowledge and confidence to help to reduce the long-term emotional and psychological impact faced by small children after suicide bereavement. Additionally, there will be the opportunity to ask questions, and network with others working in the early years sector, during the interactive session.

No prior experience or knowledge is needed and we will share:

how young children grieve and why suicide bereavement is different
how you can best support children and their families after a parent dies by suicide
how to communicate with young children about loss, death and suicide
what age-appropriate resources are available
what support is available in Greater Manchester and nationally
how to look after yourself and your colleagues.

This is the only training in the UK that specifically addresses the unique impact of losing a parent or primary carer to suicide during early childhood, the risks associated with that unique loss and evidence-based guidance on providing timely and effective support.

Luna Suicide Bereavement Training for Early Years Practitioners was developed in response to research published in The Lancet Psychiatry (May 2022) that identified children who lose a parent to suicide aged between 2 and 5 as facing the most significantly increased suicide risk themselves as a result of that loss, without protective factors in place.

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Luna Suicide Bereavement Training for Early Years Practitioners in GM