How to cope with your first Christmas without your person - Youth Team
Three of our Youth Ambassadors, Anna, Libby and Angharad, reflect on their first Christmas without their person.
Grieving when you're away from home can feel really tough sometimes. Changes to your regular routine and life before university may trigger emotions and make you feel like you're at the start of your grief all over again. It's completely normal to be hit with these feelings and find starting this next chapter to be complicated and harder than you may have thought.
If you need to reach out for support, try speaking to your university lecturer or going straight to student support. There will most likely be resources available for grief through your uni or college, but you'll have to take the next step step and ask for them.
Daisy and Henri are Youth Ambassadors who have very different grief experiences. They've each decided to share how starting university without their person felt for them.
"It felt like a big event that he was missing out on. Seeing other freshers unpacking their things with both parents felt like a stab in the chest. I felt jealous that they were lucky enough to have their dads be a part of this stage in their lives, something they probably didn’t think twice about. It was sad knowing how he was missing out on this stage in his daughter’s life.
Being away from home almost intensified the grief as I always feel closer to my dad when I’m at home. Home is full of memories – whether it’s memories of barbeques in the garden or opening Christmas presents in the living room. Fortunately, I have found a friend who has lost a parent which has made the process much easier. Having someone who not only understands what it is like to have lost a parent so young, but also someone who is grieving at university has been a comfort and made the experience a lot easier for both of us."
"Starting at uni was hard. Starting with a group of people who don’t know you can feel lonely when struggling with difficult emotions and thoughts. No one knew my situation and I had constant anxiety about when it would eventually be brought up. I enjoyed making new friends but I always knew the questions such as “what do your parents do” or “will your parents be visiting” would be coming up.
Frequent thoughts of if I had chosen the right subject, if I will graduate and if I will get a good job after always relate back to my mum. I realised she won’t know what my talents are, my interests or what job I will get. This is hard to accept.
I’ve been at uni 3 years so far and everything I do leads up to my graduation day. I graduate next year which is meant to be a happy and positive day. I am already dreading it. It will be a big milestone achievement that my mum won’t be there for. This makes being at uni hard as the main end of uni achievement is something I’m not looking forward to."
Often, staying silent about how you're feeling can cause emotions to become squashed down inside instead of released. Talking to someone might not feel like the right thing for you right now, and that's okay. There are lots of ways to let out your sadness, anger, confusion, whatever you might be feeling. Visit our Grief Toolkit for some suggestions or you can read Ways to Cope with Grief at University.
You could also listen to the Grief in Common podcast, there's an episode all about how grief feels at uni from Youth Ambassadors, Annabelle and Abigail. These episodes aim to help young grieving people feel less alone. Tap the image below to go straight to YouTube or tap Spotify.
Your experiences as a bereaved young person can help give hope to others who are struggling with the death of someone important. We’re proud to have a dynamic youth team who help us to raise awareness, challenge the myths about grief, share their stories and help to shape the future of youth bereavement services in the UK. Want in?
Join today
Three of our Youth Ambassadors, Anna, Libby and Angharad, reflect on their first Christmas without their person.
Winter and the Christmas holidays can be a difficult time of year. Here are five ways to remember your person this season.
Winston's Wish Bereavement Support Workers share their 8 top tips for bereaved teens and young adults through the colder months.
Youth Ambassadors share the ways they remember their person digitally, through photo albums, playlists, and more.
Youth Ambassadors, Daisy, Freya, and Katie, share their personal views of their own secondary losses as a result of their bereavement.
Hear from some of the Youth Team about times when their teachers have helped them with their grief.
Some tips for taking care of yourself when you're grieving for a celebrity or public figure.
Our Bereavement Support Team have written some guidance on how to manage grief when you feel like you aren't able to be open.
Lilly shares an introduction to her grief experience and why it's so important to her to be a Winston's Wish Youth Ambassador.
Hear from some of their Youth Team about how they found support at uni.
Angus, Content Creator, says, "This message is about embracing change and not letting current moments pass you by."
Coping strategies to support you after a teacher has died
Tips from our bereavement support team to help you with big life changes like moving out as a young adult.
Useful tips to help you understand and cope with your grief.
Feeling sad that your person isn't there, guilty that you're celebrating your results, or proud of yourself for your results. There's no right or wrong way to grieve.
The death of a friend may feel extremely difficult and can feel as significant as that of a family member. Whatever you're feeling is valid, and there is no right or wrong way to grieve.
Jack, Content Creator, writes about how managing his grief through running has led to him winning the Leeds Half Marathon 2024!
Iman, Youth Ambassador, explains about Eid and shares what it's like for her and her family to grieve during Eid.
Miranda shares about how she uses music in different ways to help express her grief and emotions.
Ashleigh writes about how both writing and music have helped her in her grief.
The Winston's Wish bereavement support team share top tips for managing grief this Father's Day.
Grace's dad died from cancer when she was eight years old, she shares how she remembers her dad on Father’s Day.
Feelings of worry are very normal when you're grieving. Read on to discover some ways to manage these feelings.
Useful tips for exam season if you're grieving
Youth Ambassador, Iman, shares about her Eid celebrations as a grieving young person
Content Creator, Angus shares his thoughts
Useful tips for exam season
Interview with Mark O’Sullivan, writer of Tell Me Everything
Tips to help improve your sleep when you're grieving
How poetry can be a useful way to express your feelings
Young people share what it's like to grieve while studying at uni.
Our bereavement experts are available to speak to for immediate support on weekdays from 8am to 8pm.
Get top tips from bereavement experts, and hear from Youth Ambassadors, Henri and Teigan, about their experiences of Mother's Day.
Phoebe's mum died when she was nine. She shares how she feels on Mother’s Day and how she remembers her mum.