Bereavement Training: Professional Grief & Loss Support at Work

Back in January we had the pleasure of receiving some training from Zoe at NBS. Straight away she made us all feel comfortable and at ease.

The session was excellent, as it was a long session everyone was quite worried about this but the day flew by and we were kept engaged throughout the entire day.

One of our favourite parts was bringing back what we do day to day in our roles, to our personal lives and how bereavement affects us.

We know now that all of our processes and fit for purpose and that was the main aim of the day for us!

Thank you so much and we look forward to working with you again in 2024.

Ellie Richards Team Leader, Consulting Delivery, Mercer Marsh Benefits

The training we received from Zoe at the National Bereavement Service was absolutely fantastic. From putting together a very thorough proposal that clearly met the needs of the team identified in advance to delivering an expertly-handled, interactive session, we couldn’t have asked for a better approach to a really sensitive topic. We would totally recommend any organisation and team taking part in training from the NBS to enhance the support provided for employees and line managers.

Elliot Newstead Head of UK Student Recruitment and Outreach

“The National Bereavement Service provided two training sessions to our Social Prescribing Team. We speak with bereaved people every week and we all felt that we needed more education around how best to support their needs.

Overall, we all found that the training made us think about how we might support patients more appropriately going forward and we gained so much knowledge and insight. We would highly recommend the training to other organisations, especially as many patients have let us know that after a death, they have found some institutions (such as banks, insurance companies, etc.) have been particularly unhelpful and obstructive to those coping with bereavement. We would suggest that this type of training should be mandatory in these situations.”

Lisa Appadurai - Link Worker Social Prescribing

Aegon contacted the National Bereavement Service to enquire about their specialist bereavement training. We were interested to learn how it could supplement our existing bereavement and vulnerable customer training.

The team at National Bereavement Service were proactive, engaging and clearly proud of the work they do to support organisations and the public.

Anne Wadey and her colleague Zoe delivered a workshop for us on ‘communicating with bereaved people’ in September. The workshop was well designed and well delivered, but what made it extra special was Anne’s unique and impressive storytelling. This is testament to Anne’s long career spent working with bereaved people. Anne and Zoe were professional and personable, making them a joy to work with.

The training was informative and enjoyable and I’m confident it will add great value to our organisation and workforce. Thanks again to the National Bereavement Service team.

Lisa Barwood Aegon Learning and Development Consultant

“This was exactly the sort of information we were looking for when we contacted you. The comments section was going off the hook with people stating that they’d found the session helpful and reassuring, even someone saying it had lessened their anxiety around this topic.

The training was brilliant, I feel far more educated and up-to-speed in the bereavement space and I think a lot of our colleagues will benefit hugely from this.”

Charlotte Bedford - Senior Policy Advisor Department for Transport

“We engaged NBS as some staff were finding it difficult to engage with clients and colleagues who were experiencing bereavement. Anne Wadey made the long journey down to Bristol to deliver a seminar to our staff. The staff found it both interesting and useful, those who could not attend will attend a follow up zoom meeting.
We cannot recommend the service enough.”

Neil Townsend Office Manager

“The team at Exizent are so grateful for the time Anne and Lisa took to talk to us about their experience supporting families, and how they carefully tailored the talk for us.
It was so well received and paved the way for a lot of interesting discussions, particularly on the language we should use when talking about loss. Thank you both, it was very thought-provoking.”

Nick Cousins Founder & CEO of Exizent

“The training provided by the National Bereavement Service was tailored to the work we do with our clients. We appreciated the call before the training to understand how we work and what we were looking for. The training itself was delivered well and allowed ample time for questions.

The information provided was affirming in terms of our current processes with some food for thought on how we can make improvements. We would recommend the training to corporate organisations who deal directly with bereaved individuals.”

Christina Bowyer Partner, Head of Pinsent Masons Pensions Services at Pinsent Masons

“I was delighted with the content and feedback, with over 500 advisers attending the webinar and providing overwhelmingly positive feedback, and many requesting further information.

The comments post the event suggested that this difficult but extremely important subject was something they really welcomed expert guidance on.”

Vince Smith-Hughes - Director of Specialist Business Support Prudential (part of M&G plc)

“NBS facilitated a thought-provoking session on bereavement using their expertise to provide employees with an opportunity to better understand and prepare for the bereavement process, encouraging more open discussions on this topic.

NBS wove two Sky personal story speakers into their interactive session to demonstrate to Sky employees how grief can affect people differently followed by Q&A.”

Mental Health Empowerment - Finance & Procurement Sky

“The National Bereavement Service tailored training for our vulnerable client champions along with a webinar for all colleagues. The sessions focused on conversations with bereaved clients, providing valuable insights, case studies and practical guidance on handling the initial call. The training was excellent, equipping staff with the knowledge needed not only to support our clients and executors but also their family and friends.”

Dianne Bevan - Business Support Manager Arbuthnot Latham & Co., Limited

“Our Centre recently participated in a bereavement training session facilitated by the National Bereavement Service. We found it an empowering, positive, and interesting discussion about what can be a difficult yet integral part of our work. The trainer (Zoe) supported discussions, and taught us powerful emotional and practical means to support our service users moving forward. The training was a safe space, with us all feeling able to open up without feeling ashamed.

I know that everyone who participated in this training would recommend it – in fact, I already have! I also know that we will all continue to reflect, learn, and grow from the session as well as engage with the National Bereavement Service as a trusted source of emotional and practical support.”

Lucy Hodgeon

Help employees, customers and volunteers with grief and loss

NBS has many years of experience supporting organisations to communicate and manage grieving employees, customers and volunteers. Our training shares that experience and is unique in explaining both the emotional and practical aspects of bereavement and the interplay between them. Our expertise includes all the countries in the UK.

Bereavement will affect most people during their lifetime, but many people don’t know what to do when someone dies. Our bereavement courses for professionals equip staff with the skills to help manage their own experience of grief together with understanding the practical aspects of bereavement.

The experience of covid has resulted in many employers better understanding the need to support bereaved employees together with the need to equip them to respond to customers/clients empathetically in a way that is appropriate to the business to client relationship.

Whether you want to better support your own teams, during their bereavement leave and during their return to work period, or enhance the skills and resilience of your staff who have conversations with bereaved people, NBS can help. The foundations for all our courses are understanding the experience of grief and communicating better with bereaved people.

Who we provide training for

Any organisation wanting to enhance their care for bereaved employees or volunteers, especially during their bereavement leave and managing their return to work, including retail, construction, logistics, financial institutions, housing providers, leisure, residential care providers.

Any organisation who has employees or volunteers who are carers (Planning ahead as a Carer).

Any organisation with staff who have sensitive conversations with bereaved people including:

Charities supporting bereaved people in the community
NHS primary care providers, including social prescribers, wanting to better understand how to support bereaved people
NHS secondary/tertiary health care providers wanting to better understand bereavement, including conversations about referral to the coroner and post-mortem examinations
Financial, insurance and legal organisations who have sensitive conversations with bereaved people about how to access funds and probate or debt
Probate researchers, i.e. genealogists who help trace missing beneficiaries and heirs of unclaimed estates
Any organisation that encounters people in bereavement crisis circumstances e.g. emergency services, transport providers, vehicle recovery services, travel companies

If your organisation is not on this list, contact us anyway as we’re always pleased to learn about new contexts and to explore new ways of achieving our ultimate goal of enhancing knowledge of and the resilience to cope with bereavement in the community as a whole.

If we cannot provide training, we may be able to signpost you to a more appropriate organisation, counselling service or charity.

How training works

All of our bereavement education over 90 minutes in length will be broken up into at least 2 sessions. We combine presentations with interactive workshops and are very comfortable sharing the leading of a workshop with your own staff.

We love teaching about bereavement and seeing the confidence of our course participants grow. Their engagement as employees is increased with the knowledge that their organisation is investing in becoming a more compassionate and supportive place of work.

Participants we have trained can prepare for and cope better with their own experiences of grief. We cannot mitigate the pain following the death of someone we care for, but we can prevent the panic that might arise through not knowing what to do next.

The education delivered is always reinforced with copies of any presentations, appropriate handouts, and has the option of recording for any online session. The cost of our training is competitive and will depend on the type of organisation you are, the length of the training and the number of participants.

Speak to our team today and let us know what you need or see an example overview of bereavement training delivered previously.

Training overview example

Bereavement & Grief
Introduction to the work of the National Bereavement Service Would it be helpful to be able to refer your service users to National Bereavement Service for information and signposting on both practical and emotional bereavement issues? This session (minimum 30 minutes) will help you understand who we are and how we can extend the support you give to bereaved people.	20-60 mins
What do bereaved people have to do and how it feels Includes an overview of the practical tasks facing bereaved people and the impact these tasks have together with an introduction to the experience and emotions of grief (minimum 60 minutes)	90-120 minutes with a short break
Step by Step – what to do when someone dies Understanding the detail of all the practical tasks that need to be done after someone has died and the order in which they can be achieved (minimum 60 minutes) Includes who has to be informed about the death and the best ways to do this and an introduction to probate/dealing with the estate.	60-90 minutes
The Experience of Grief This course focuses on the lived experience of grief and how it feels. Includes an overview of the main models and theories of bereavement to enable you to do your own further reading (minimum 60 minutes).	60-90 minutes
Communicating with Bereaved People as Part of Your Job How do you communicate with bereaved people with empathy but also effectively to achieve what your caller and your organisation need from the conversation? What can I say and what should I never say? (Minimum 60 minutes but we recommend at least 90 minutes).	60-120 minutes with a short break
Understanding Probate What is probate and why is it needed? What difference does it make if someone has made a will? We introduce you to the essentials of dealing with the estate of someone who has died (minimum 60 minutes).	40-90 minutes
How Do we Support Someone Who is Bereaved at Work? Both Immediately After the Death and for the Longer Term. Understand what you can do as an organisation to help your bereaved colleagues feel respected, cared for and able to return to work after a bereavement.	40-90 minutes

We also offer a range of online training sessions on legal and financial and emotional wellbeing topics in partnership with Adroit Legal Services:
Why You Should make a Will It is easy to put off making a Will – this session explains why it is important and how it can protect your family if you are no longer here to care for them.	30-45mins
The Importance of Lasting Powers of Attorney This session covers why you need a Power of Attorney, common misconceptions and what happens if you don’t have them.	30-45mins
Residential Conveyancing This session explains the many types of matters a conveyancer can deal with and the importance of engaging with a reputable, trustworthy, and proactive firm. We also cover FAQs, such as how long does a property transaction take, and why, as well as taking you through the conveyancing process.	30-45mins
Family Law This session discusses everything ‘family’, including divorce and finances, children (including types of court orders, no order principle, the role of CAFCASS, and parental responsibility), family agreements (pre and post nuptial and cohabitation agreements), and domestic abuse (harassment and the police, non-molestation order, occupation order).	30-45mins
Funeral Plans Explained This session explains what a funeral plan is and the different options, the key benefits of taking out a plan, and the important points to consider before purchasing.	30-45mins
Protecting your Property and Money This is a longer more in-depth session explaining ways to protect your property and money including the benefit of lifetime trusts to protect your wealth, avoid probate, and help reduce inheritance tax.	45-60mins
An Invitation to Care A webinar for working carers as well as those with older family members in need. From the practical and financial support available for those caring for another, to the important first steps to take in respect of navigating the needs of an older family member in need of care, this webinar will provide an overview of some of the key things you need to know	45-60mins
Self-harm/Suicide Prevention Education For employers and organisations who would like to support those who may deal with customers, colleagues or family members who are self-harming or may be having thoughts of self-harm or suicide.	45-60mins