Around 1 in 29 children in school today have been bereaved of a parent or sibling, while
around 1 in 16 are grieving a close friend. Children’s experiences of bereavement are suffused
with stories, some told, some hidden. This unique, multi-disciplinary conference will explore
these stories: those that children tell about themselves and their experiences; those that help young people understand and express their grief; those we tell about bereaved children; and
those that are told in families and communities when someone has died.

Organised by the Childhood Bereavement Network in partnership with 11 Million, the Office
of the Children’s Commissioner for England, this important conference will hear lessons from research about the stories bereaved children tell about their past, present and future, and how careful listening to these stories can improve the support available to them. It will include a
focus on the specific needs of bereaved Gypsy and Traveller children, an often silenced group,
and also explore the negative and positive aspects of families’ stories being told in the media.
The conference involves two prominent champions of bereaved children and young people.

Dr Atle Dyregrov – one of the world’s leading experts on children, grief and trauma – will share new thinking and insights from his work.

Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green is honouring the childhood bereavement field by making this conference his final public appearance before he steps down as Children’s Commissioner, a role in which he has campaigned for bereaved children’s right to tell their stories and be heard.