Friends and family raise thousands in memory of trainee nurse from Liverpool

ITV Granada Reports journalist Sam Taylor spoke to Rida's sister Nyla at the theatre where Good Grief was first performed.

The loved ones of a trainee nurse are ensuring her memory lives on after sharing her story about grief with bereavement charities.

Rida Rennoldson, from Liverpool, wrote her story of coming to terms with the loss of her parents for an award-winning play and graphic novel.

After she died in January 2024 at the age of 27, her friends and family set up a fundraiser to get the book, called Good Grief, into bereavement charities so Rida's words can continue to help people.

Rida's sister, Nyla Sheikh, said: "I know Good Grief was really important to Rida, and she was so proud of it.

"What I wanted to do was keep her legacy going and to keep that good work that she did going – and there’s nothing better than her own words."

For Nyla, the book has been a source of comfort since her sister died.

She said: "Grief is really hard, and losing her is one of the toughest things I’ve ever been through and one of the people I’d love to speak to is her, because she helped many people with their journeys with grief.

"Having those words that she wrote…that means the world to me right now."

Before it was a book, Rida's words were originally an award-winning play which aimed to tackle the ways people deal with the loss of a loved one through comedy.

Theatre Company Ugly Bucket produced the play, and approached Rida to ask if she would share her story of losing both of her parents when she was a child.

The Co-Artistic Director of Ugly Bucket, Grace Gallagher, said: "Rida was someone who, in her life had experienced a lot of grief, and she was really passionate about talking about it more and opening up that conversation.

"I think that Rida was so important to Good Grief because she became the light in the show, in the darkness."

The play told Rida's story of learning to live with her grief, alongside other people who had lost loved ones.

As well as explaining the pain of losing her parents, Rida can also be heard explaining why grief is important and encourages others to talk about it.

One of the organisers of the fundraiser is Care Merseyside, where Rida volunteered to support vulnerable people during the pandemic.

The charity's CEO, Cathy Connolly, said: "She was an amazing, powerful, strong young woman who shared a really sad story.

"We assigned her an older lady, a retired NHS Nurse, and she was so impressed with Rida that she ended up making a contribution to our charity, which is something we weren't expecting.

"That's just an example of how much of an impression Rida had on everyone."

How we can better deal with bereavement after a pandemic where so many died in such a short space of time? We take a look in an episode of our podcast, From the North.