Noah's Ark Trust
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Noah's Ark Trust is a charity which was founded in 1998 to provide grief support to bereaved children and young people in Worcestershire. Until that time, there had been no such support available to families in the County.
In the past referrals come to them from Schools, GPs, Health Visitors, Youth Officers, and other professionals directly involved with children within the County. Families may also contact them direct.
Feedback they have received leads them to believe that what they have achieved, in their first seven years of operation, has been entirely successful and they are very enthusiastic for the future. They are now working towards making their service available to bereaved children and young people in Herefordshire in the near future.
All their services are provided to families in Worcestershire free of charge. However, the support of the community is vital to enable the Trust to continue to do so.
They benefit from the financial support of Children in Need, Comic Relief, the Big Lottery Fund, and others including Worcestershire County Council.
Each residential weekend is costing them in the region of £5,000 to run, and they are currently running three such weekends per year. Wages are kept to an absolute minimum and they are fortunate to have the services of over 60 volunteers who have all completed the Noah's Ark in-house Training Programme.
At Noah's Ark they provide young people with the opportunity to participate in a residential weekend at the Malvern Hills Outdoor Centre where they can make friends with others who have also experienced the loss of a close relative.
Here, they share experiences, remember the person who has died, and learn to have fun again. Parents are also invited - and positively encouraged - to participate in their own residential weekend, which is run concurrently with their children's "camp" and on the same site.
