(Written by me!) Last March I did something I am very proud of, I joined Grief Encounter and lots of other people across the UK and walked in memory of a loved one as part of their Forget-Me-Not-Walk. I walked 10 miles and completed 10 different challenges. I was walking in memory of my Mum, Gemma, who died very suddenly from Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in November 2017. Thanks to the amazing generosity of so many on here I raised nearly £4000 for the work of this amazing charity.

Grief Encounter have been incredibly generous to me and us as a family and for well over two years and I had one on one counselling with the amazing Colin. I cannot tell you enough how much Colin has helped me cope with the loss of my Mum and learn to enjoy life again. But so many other children like me, need the kind of help I received. 

(My Dad's written this bit!) Here are the sobering facts about child bereavement:

• A parent of children under 18 dies every 22 minutes in the UK. That's 111 children losing a parent every day and around 23,600 a year. 
• 1 in 29 5-16 year olds has been bereaved of a parent or brother or sister - that's one child in every average sized class.
• Before the pandemic Grief Encounter were receiving around 300 calls / webchats / emails a month to their helpline ‘grieftalk’ from people struggling to cope with grief. Over the last 22 months this number has risen massively and in December 2021 it reached 1000 – their busiest month since the charity started 18 years ago. 

Day in, day out Grief Encounter continue providing essential, professional services for children and families who have experienced the death of someone close. They rely entirely on voluntary donations so that their services can be provided free of charge for as long as people need their professional support. They need our support now, more than ever.

(Me again!) So on Sunday 6th March I am going to be taking part in Grief Encounter ’s Forget-Me-Not-Walk and this year I am going to walk 11 miles with 11 different challenges (Daddy & Derrina have said they're going to be even harder this year). But this year it's going to be a bit different because I'm going to be doing the walk with my good friend Jamie. I've known Jamie since I was a baby and he knew my Mum Gemma well.

Message from Jamie: "I am doing the walk because Ethan is a good friend of mine , I miss Gemma a lot and I want to support my friend. I also think it's a great charity which has helped many people like Ethan. I know how much this means to him and wanted to be there with him to do it."

You were so kind to me last year and helped Grief Encounter so much and like last year, 100% of the funds we raise will go towards giving essential, professional services for families who have experienced the death of someone close. 

Grief Encounter changed my life, now Jamie and I want to help change other children's lives.

Thank you so much and you can follow me getting ready for the walk and the walk itself by either following me or my Dad on Instagram - @ethansartclub & @simonthomastv