Since 2021, Lauren Karstadt Woodcraft Folk’s Development Officer and the The Kite Trust, an organisation that supports the wellbeing and creativity of LGBTQ+ young people, have been working together to create the “Growing with grief” toolkit. The toolkit will act as a guide to navigate grief in youth work, by, with and for young people and those that work with them.
Inside the toolkit you will find reflection points, questions and discussion activities as well as quotes, artworks designed and made by young people. The toolkit has also been written with an inclusive language. The purpose of this toolkit is to support and guide someone within the non-formal education/youth work setting that is going through any type of bereavement.
The idea of creating this toolkit came up after realising that youth organisations didn’t have access to any specific information about guiding young people through grief. Especially during and after the lockdown and the COVID 19 pandemic, when a lot of people tragically passed away and some took their own lives. Leaders found it hard to find resources and solutions during this complicated period.
According to Lauren Karstadt, now this toolkit “fills a crucial hole in the youth work sector.”
In order to create this toolkit, Lauren Karstadt gathered Venturers (age 13-15) and DFs (age 16-21) from Woodcraft Folk’sLewisham and Greenwich Districts, as well as young members from the Kite Trust to participate in workshops, discussions and reflections. Throughout the project the groups have also worked with Cass, an independent thanatologist, specialising in grief and bereavement.
After discussions about everybody’s experiences – consulting young people to take into consideration their ideas and what they would like to have in the document and collecting a specialist’s opinion from Cass – Woodcraft Folk now present the “Growing with grief” toolkit.
This toolkit is a “moving document” and will be updated in the future with new experiences and facts plus more! You can find inside the toolkit information and contact details to get involved.
