Yo-Yo Project: Support for Children & Young People

Yo-Yo is a community bereavement service for children and young people aged 4 to 18.

The service is partly funded by Children in Need.

We offer a range of support options including:

• 1 to 1 support
• Counselling
• Music, Art and Play Therapy

Group work:

• Bespoke groups - children and families are invited to attend sessions which support specific needs including:
  • Outdoor activity days
  • Art gallery
  • Family meal
  • Christmas party
  • Memorial service
  • Workshops for parents and carers to understand the impact of loss and bereavement and how to support their child/young person

Our team also holds workshops for school staff and other agencies working with children to share techniques and strategies to support bereaved children, their families and their community.

Referrals are accepted when someone significant to a child/young person has a life-limiting illness.

Bereavement referrals are accepted from 6 weeks after the death. Professionals and parents can refer with the consent of the child/young person by completing one of the forms below or young people can refer themselves.

Yo-Yo Seriously Ill Referral Form
Yo-Yo Bereavement Referral Form

Yo-Yo Referral Criteria

If you would like information or advice, please call us on 01245 457416 or email yoyoproject@farleighhospice.org (no referral form required).

Helpful books:

Here is a collection of books which can be read with children who may have experienced loss through a death or some other way.

Each of the books has a different theme to think about with your child. They talk about finding ways to open your heart when you are struggling, remembering the person who has died and staying connected to them even though they are not there.

Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine gives some activities that could be done to help when someone has died.

Other resources and books for bereavement can be found on the Winston’s Wish or Child Bereavement UK websites.

The Invisible String
Written by Patrice Karst, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
ISBN: 978-0-316-48623-1

Always and Forever
Written by Alan Durant, illustrated by Debi Gliori
ISBN: 978-0-15-216636-6

The Paper Dolls
Written by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb
ISBN: 978-1-4472-2014-5

The Heart and the Bottle
Written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
ISBN: 978-0-00-718234-3

Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine
Written by Diana Crossley, illustrated by Kate Sheppard
ISBN: 978-1-903458-96-9