The Palliative Care Service of Orange Health Service has been providing bereavement support to families of deceased patients in Orange for the past 15 years and now they are opening the support group up to all bereaved people in our community.

The Palliative Care Team became aware of the need for a support group, where people could meet face to face so the Friendship Group was founded and they have been meeting once a month since then.

Margaret Kingham, a volunteer with Orange Health Service, has been facilitating the group with the aim of providing support and encouragement to people experiencing grief and loss.

“Anybody who has recently lost somebody close to them and would like to talk to other people going through a similar situation would benefit from the group. The group is also completely confidential.

“From a personal point of view we lost our son who was only 33 to brain cancer and that was important for me to be able to share that information with other people who have gone through a similar thing, as people feel that they are on their own and in a group situation you find there are other people going through the same thing,” Margaret said.

Future meetings will take place at LiveBetter Community Hub, Southern Meeting Room, 88 Dalton Street, Orange (entrance to meeting rooms from Prince Street) and any members of the community needing bereavement support are invited to join.

The Palliative Care Service also holds an annual Memorial Service at the end of each year, and people who have lost a loved one during the year are invited.

If you are interested in joining the support group, please contact Lita Mathews (Palliative Care Social Worker) on 02 63693290 or Margaret Kingham (Volunteer) on 02 63665080.