ISLAND youngsters dealing with bereavement and grief are to benefit from a lottery grant of more than £450,000.
A group of children’s professionals have been working with YMCA Isle of Wight to establish a bereavement service for the Island's young people.
Their hard work has now been rewarded with a Big Lottery Fund grant from the reaching communities scheme for £457,532.
The award will allow the bereavement service, Help2grieve, to be established later this year at YMCA's Winchester House in Shanklin.
Help2grieve is the result of two years of planning and engaging with the Island community, to design a service which meets the specific needs of Island children who are grieving.
Emma Corina, YMCA area director for the Isle of Wight and south east Hampshire, said: "This is an extremely important provision and exactly the type of service the YMCA is dedicated to supporting.
"I am delighted this funding has been secured so we can get Help2grieve up and running but continued support will be essential to our future and there are lots of different ways people and organisations can help."
The service has already received widespread support from communities and organisations, including Cowes Rotary and the Minghella Film Festival.
Help2grieve will provide therapeutic services to young people and families, and provide assistance to schools and community groups to recognise and meet grieving children’s support needs, or where there is a community loss impacting on children.
The Big Lottery Fund is the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding and is responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
Reporter: jamiew@iwcpmail.co.uk