Good Grief

Grief, loss and bereavement can be really difficult to talk about. Where do you start? When's the right time? What words do you use? Whatever the answers to those
questions are, it is really important that we do talk about it, in whatever way we can.

Funded by Two Riding Community Foundation, we ran a 6 month participatory arts programme, for those with experience of loss, grief and bereavement. These workshops included storytelling, poetry writing, monologue writing, collaging, and candle craft as well as a playback theatre performance and production of our original play Any Mother Would at The Great Yorkshire Fringe. 

Participants came from Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust's Open Shop York (New Earswick), York’s Dead Good Festival with St Leonard’s Hospice, York Carers Centre and York Explore Libraries and Archives (Acomb).

Below is a collection of what was created in the workshops.

Below is a collection of what was created from grief.

Feedback:

  • “I attended the Good Grief Cafe with my baby and really appreciated all the effort that had been put in to the thoughtful activities. We created fridge magnet poems, made mind maps from actual maps and expressed our hopes through photographs. A wonderful way to talk about our journey through grief of our lost loved ones together.” 
  • “I went to a Good Grief workshop run by 2 lovely members of this very special company. They created a sensitive, thoughtful and safe space where we could talk freely about our very personal and painful experiences with grief and bereavement. Thank you!” 
Funded by Arts for Change and TWO RIDINGS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION