RAINBOWS Bereavement Support GB, a registered charity, is a non-profit making organisation, offering training and age appropriate programmes for establishing peer support groups for young people who are grieving a significant loss through a death, divorce, separation or other painful family transition.

How does RAINBOWS help?

Young people are not always able to express their feelings in words. Adults around them can be suffering as well, and may be unable to support them in the immediate aftermath of a loss. RAINBOWS Bereavement Support helps by providing a safe setting in which children can talk through their feelings with their peers who are experiencing similar situations. They are assisted to articulate their feelings by a trained adult facilitator or listener who uses a structured programme and resources. The RAINBOWS group helps the participants to re-build their self-esteem by being able to name, understand and come to terms with the many emotions they experience. It also offers exploration of coping skills. RAINBOWS encourages group members to move towards forgiving those whom they feel have caused their pain.

How can a school become a RAINBOWS Bereavement Support site?

Schools can choose to have high quality training for staff at their own school in the use of Rainbows age appropriate peer support programmes. All training is interactive and a variety of methods are used to ensure that participants develop appropriate skills and strategies to enable them to facilitate peer groups working through the Rainbows programmes.

High quality training for all members of staff and further training for facilitators and co-ordinators to suit the specific needs of your school are delivered at your site. The cost includes training, equivalent to at least a day, together with all resources required to operate the Rainbows age related programmes with on-going support and advice.

Rainbows Bereavement Support Programmes:

  • SunBeams: Foundation Stages and lower Key Stage One
  • Rainbows:   Year 2 and Key Stage Two
  • Spectrum:   Key Stage Three, Four and Five

Within Rainbows and Spectrum there are three age-related journals with a range of varied creative activities.

If you require further information, please contact:

Derek Kelly

Rainbows Bereavement Support Training Co-ordinator
for Rainbows London Boroughs of Newham, Waltham Forest, Redbridge & Dagenham, Havering and the County of Essex

Email: [email protected]