PART ONE: Full Circle Funerals talks creativity after bereavement

The funeral franchise recently spoke with support worker Emma Pickering about finding a creative outlet after a loss.

The funeral franchise shared Emma’s insights in a new blog post on the Full Circle Funerals website. Emma works for Carers Leeds, and she’s very passionate about getting creative in order to process the sadnesses and sorrows of life. This is the first of two Point Franchise articles recounting Emma’s story - stay tuned for the next.

When asked how she got into specialist grief support, Emma responded, “My background is in social work and I worked with children and families before moving into fostering social work, where I first developed a real interest in supporting people through loss. Working with short term foster carers helped me understand the feelings of loss they experience when children move on from their care. I later joined Cruse Bereavement Support and trained to be a bereavement support volunteer, and then worked for Leeds Cruse Bereavement Support for a period before becoming a support worker for bereaved carers at Carers Leeds.”

In regards to her special type of work, Emma explained, “Bereaved carers experience a unique type of loss. Very often they have given up their job, friends and former lives to care full time for someone and when that person dies, the loss they experience is amplified by the fact that their whole identity was linked to their role as a carer.” When questioned about how Emma offers support and how others can learn from her advice, Emma expressed that she doesn’t “try and fix people who are experiencing grief” - she feels this is incredibly dismissive of how they are truly feeling.

Instead, she said, “Bereavement support is about sitting with someone and being comfortable with the uncomfortable, acknowledging where they are in their journey at that moment and letting them be raw and honest.” Find out more about a potential franchise investment with Full Circle Funerals via the franchise’s profile page, which you’ll discover linked above.