Grief Gathering host training in Merseyside

Grief Gatherings are small group conversations about grief

Wednesday 16th September

Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre

We are returning to Merseyside on the 16th September to facilitate further training for Grief Gathering hosts.

Led by our co-Artistic Director David Harradine, this one day training session will help participants develop skills in holding space for conversations about grief, including what to do if someone needs further support during the session, facilitating a conversation, including incorporating prompts or materials, and opening and closing the session.

They will also gain practical experience of giving peer to peer reflection and support, and delivering a Grief Gathering, including incorporating live, in person practise with other members of the group.

These gatherings are made possible through the At The Library arts program in partnership with Sefton Libraries and brought together by  Rule of Threes.

It was incredibly useful for me to hear others share how they feel. Even just being able to identify my feelings in others made me feel soothed and brought me a feeling of relief.

Participant

This Grief Thing at the Barbican, Feb 2026. Photo by Jesse Olu Ogunbanjo

Billboard campaign. This Grief Thing, Manchester Photo by Richard Tymon

Let Me Be Sad brooch

Design by Fraser Muggridge

Grief Gatherings are an outcome of our project This Grief Thing.

At the heart of the project there’s a collection of clothing, accessories and cards, which are sold in temporary shops that we’re opening in different places.  There are gatherings and conversations, which invite people to come together to talk about grief. And there’s a billboard campaign, that makes grief visible in public spaces.

We’re living at a time when many people find death and grief - our own grief or other people’s - almost impossible to talk about. We don’t know what to say, what to do, or how to act.  So we stay silent, we pretend that grief doesn’t exist, or we hide it.

We are now offering training workshops for organisations who would like to learn how to host a Grief Gathering.

Previous Grief Gathering host training has been held at cultural organisations such as Delepré Abbey, Northampton and Culture Weston, Weston Super Mare. Participants have then gone on to host Grief Gatherings in their local communities to great success. 

Training sessions are typically held over one day for no more than 10 participants and cost £750 + travel (and accommodation if applicable).

If you are interested in holding a training session in your organisation or group, please contact Fevered Sleep at admin@feveredsleep.co.uk.

This Grief Thing, King Street ,Manchester Photo by Richard Tymon

Grief Gathering,Manchester 2019. Photo by Adam Lewis