Grief crisis - Calls for more child bereavement support as Covid puts strain on already-stretched services
Video report by Mel Barham
Every 22 minutes a child in the UK loses a parent, however, it is now feared that this number could be even higher because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a year where death has seemed ever-present, there will be thousands of children and young people across the North West who will be experiencing grief, possibly for the first time, after losing a family member.
There are concerns that already overstretched child bereavement services won't be able to cope with increased demand.
Alex Davies knows from experience what it's like to lose a parent; he was 13 when his father died from oesophageal cancer in 2016.
He went to school the very next day, because he thought he had to carry on.
When his dad first fell ill Alex was offered 6 weeks of counselling - but he had to wait 9 months for that first appointment.
And that delay in getting help is something that has spurred Alex to campaign for better and more regulated bereavement support for children and young people.
After being elected as a member of the Youth Parliament, he set up a community interest company, No Child Left Behind UK with the same core aims.
With a backdrop of covid, he says there's now a real urgency to address the lack of support available and the postcode lottery for services.
Jane Dixon lost her 46-year-old husband Steve unexpectedly on a family holiday.
When her twin girls returned to school in September, many of their teachers were not aware their father had died.
Niamh was put in a behavioural class. Jane says when she spoke to the teacher at the end of the day, he wasn't aware her father had died and hadn't realised that was why there had been a change in behaviour.
Jane believes if every school was legally obliged to hold a bereavement policy, that wouldn't have happened to her daughter.
Her children's school has now put measures in place but she's calling for mandatory bereavement policies in schools and she also wants death and bereavement to be added to the curriculum.
She said: "Its something we're all guaranteed to go through in life. We talk so openly about sex education which once upon a time was taboo. Why do we not talk about death more openly?"
The charity Child Bereavement UK is welcoming these calls, and one school in Liverpool has decided to set up its own bereavement programme after several pupils lost family members.
Jennifer Loughlin, a teacher at Kings Leadership Academy, has been trained in bereavement support and believes that schools can play a vital role in helping young people deal with grief.
She said that compulsory bereavement policies would be welcomed in schools and that many children would feel more comfortable speaking to someone they knew, rather than to a stranger for a few short sessions.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Every death caused by this dreadful disease is a human tragedy and behind each one are families and friends left to grieving their loss.
"We have introduced difficult, but necessary restrictions to control the virus which have sadly limited how the bereaved are able to mourn. Many people have had to grieve without the close support of family and friends, and it is hard to compute how unbearable this has been for those people.
"The Government is on the side of people who are grieving, and we have backed mental health charities, including bereavement charities, with £10.2 million to ensure they are there for people who need the invaluable support they offer."
Support for young people who have lost loved ones can be found here: