Community Bereavement Support Service for Adults (Direct Award, Light Touch Contract)

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has recently procured a Community Bereavement Support Service for Adults. The Service aims to provide low-level emotional and practical support to adults (18+) who have experienced bereavement, helping to reduce stigma, support healthy grieving, and prevent the escalation of distress through timely early intervention.

The objectives of the Service are to:

• Support individuals through their grief journey, enabling them to adjust to life after bereavement, rebuild confidence, establish new routines, and regain independence and wellbeing.
• Address the social, emotional, and practical needs of adults experiencing bereavement.
• Prevent the escalation of mental and emotional distress associated with unresolved grief, reducing pressure on health and social care services.
• Strengthen collaboration between local bereavement support services, promoting partnership working, the sharing of good practice, and coordinated support pathways.
• Develop and sustain a volunteer programme that empowers adults with lived experience to provide peer support to others affected by bereavement.

The Service will work closely alongside the existing Community Bereavement Support Service for Children, Young People and Families, contributing to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's wider Public Mental Wellbeing Programme and ensuring a joined-up approach to bereavement support across all age groups.