Great photos, no cheese.
As part of the Tuesday session at Winston's Wish with Gracie, Aston and Campbell, we ducked outside for 20 minutes for a bit of fresh air and a breather. The kids loved running off their energy and emotions. Sometimes it's needed.
Day 2 of the Winston's Wish family work sessions. This time with the ever so adorable Gracie and her big brothers, Aston and Campbell. They've lost their Dad but like Bethany and Paige yesterday, they were happy to be photographed and have their story shared.
Working with such vulnerable children demonstrates my enormous sensitivity and care towards all the subjects that I photograph. Perhaps it is because I know what they are going through because despite the struggles these kids are currently facing, the room was full of smiles - some happy, and some with a sense of sadness.
I love these two images from Monday's shoot so much I wanted to give them their own blog. It's so important for grieving teenagers to be able to connect with the images they see on the website of Winston's Wish. It might be the difference between picking up the phone and not.
As part of Monday's session we made the most of the beautiful sunshine to take some photos of sisters, Bethany and Paige, doing some Memory Stone work outside.
Memory Stones are a tool that Winston's Wish use to help children understand and process their grief. Smooth stones are for every day memories, gem stones are for very precious memories and rough rocks are for more difficult memories. Here, Bethany and Paige, each hold a gem stone.
On Monday I spent the morning at Winston's Wish, the charity for bereaved children. I do a lot of voluntary photography work for this charity; I lost my own Mum when I was 11 years old.
The charity is desperately trying to reach out to teenagers. They want to encourage more to come forward and talk about the grief and loss, and help them make positive steps forward in their life. It's vital therefore they are able to connect with the images.
Sisters, Bethany and Paige, are going through their own difficulties at the moment and yet despite this wanted to help with the photo shoot. I understand from talking to their Mum that it was a really good thing for them to have done.
Winston's Wish runs residential weekends for bereaved children and young people aged 6 to 18, that is both challenging and fun.
The weekends involve practical and creative activities that encourage teamwork, building confidence and self-esteem. This sets the scene for the children to begin sharing their own stories, to untangle and express a range of feelings, increase their knowledge about death and to continue their individual journeys towards understanding their grief.
Working alongside professional staff and highly trained volunteers, children are given the opportunity to share their individual stories with others in their small group, gain information about what happened through a question-and-answer session with a doctor, take special time to remember the person who has died, explore safely some of the more challenging feelings and responses they may be experiencing and develop ways of looking to the future.
The residential weekend I photographed was focused on children who had lost a parent through suicide, murder and manslaughter.
I only spent a few hours with the children, but those hours were probably some of the toughest I've photographed. Having lost my own Mum when I was 11 years old, I found the whole experience very moving. The balloon release at the end was particularly touching. Each had a message from the child to the parent who had died. It was a poignant moment.
If anyone wants to find out more about Winston's Wish or would like to make a donation please visit their website at http://www.winstonswish.org.uk/.
Winston's Wish is a charity very close to my heart, having lost my own Mum when I was 11 years old.
The collaboration with them started with the launch party of my new photo studio in November 2014, (click here to see photos) I held a raffle with all the proceeds going to Winston's Wish. We raised over £100, which was terrific! It was then that they asked me if I could help further. They were in need of new photos for their online media and marketing platforms. Their existing ones were tired, having been taken 15 years ago.
The drop in clinic is our first project together. The clinic itself started in January 2013. It is open to anyone who would like to find out more about Winston's Wish and the services they provide or would like to meet with other people in relation to a bereavement. It is held on the last Wednesday of every month from 3.30pm-6.30pm at Leisure @ Cheltenham, Tommy Taylors Lane, Cheltenham, GL50 4RN.
The purpose of the photos was to simply capture the space to help give people an understanding of the setting and environment. A model was used.
