Our Aims
Our aim at SLOW is to provide an informal, quiet place for bereaved families. Our members say that our groups provide a safe haven, a place to take time-out from the demands of the ‘outside world’ at a time when life has been irrevocably changed by their child or sibling’s death.
We know that the death of your loved one affects every aspect of your life, including relationships with family, friends and the world at large. SLOW is a place to be just as you are and take strength from the support of others, before returning to daily life and its challenges.
We understand that there is no rush when grieving. Changes may happen imperceptibly slowly to the outside eye, but time and again, we see our members as they move slowly forwards, step by step and learning to adjust to a different life. And, eventually perhaps, they find a way to walk alongside their child or sibling, not in physical life but by cherishing their memories and living with their legacy in innumerable ways.
We understand that life will never feel the same again, and that our loved ones will be forever missing.
Listening to bereaved families has shown us that gradually life may begin to offer different perspectives, different values, different strengths and different relationships and, most importantly, a deep and continuing bond with our child and sibling who has died.
Background
In 2013, in response to member feedback, SLOW introduced quarterly creative workshops for bereaved siblings. Five year later and SLOWsibs continues to enable siblings to meet with other bereaved children and share their experiences.
With the help of Lottery funding our North London monthly evening group was introduced in 2014 as another opportunity for bereaved parents to receive support.
SLOW became a registered charity in 2015 and two years later, in 2017 we celebrated our 10th birthday and were also proud recipients of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This award is the equivalent to a MBE and is the highest award that can be made to a voluntary group.
We launched a South London group in the Spring of 2018. SLOW has continued to grow and our support groups are thriving, in 2021 we introduced an adult sibling support group and Zoom bereaved parent support groups so that we can provide support across the UK.
Meet the team
SLOW was founded by Nic Whitworth and Susie Hanson and is run today by Kelly Carter and Nikki Peterson, with help from an expert team of facilitators and a large group of volunteers. Many of our team are bereaved parents or siblings who have first-experience of the devastation of losing a loved one and fully understand the benefits of connecting with other bereaved families and sharing their experiences.
