We are thrilled to welcome Greg Wise, Actor, Author and Producer, as our Ambassador.  Greg has been an active supporter of our charity for a number of years and we are priviledged to have him on board.  Greg played the role of John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility, which also starred Emma Thompson, whom he later married.  Greg’s sister Claire, sadly died of cancer in 2017 and he took over her blog when she was too sick to write and has since published her words into a book ‘Not That Kind of Love’.  Each year during National Grief Awareness Week, Greg helps us launch our event and talks passionately about the need to connect with others who are grieving, talk about our emotions and normalise grief.

We are proud to have the support of our new Ambassador Dr. Amir Khan.

Dr. Khan says; ‘In my practice in Bradford usually sends out condolence cards to the families of our patients who have sadly died.

After receiving a batch of cards from The Good Grief Trust, we began inserting them inside each condolence card.  The feedback was almost immediate, patients who had said they felt lost now felt as though where to go and who to speak with in regards to their feelings. They felt better supported and this has had a direct impact on their overall mental health which in turn, will have a positive impact on the work we do in the community’

Dr Hannah Barham Brown is Deputy Leader of Women’s Equality Party, junior doctor, speaker, media commentator, blogger and social media stalwart. Her interests in include charity work, disability rights, medical ethics and law. 

Thankyou to Hannah for your passion for our vision and the need to reach out to all communities to offer early signposting to bereavement support.

We are proud to have the support of our Ambassador Dr. Nighat Arif.

Dr. Arif is BBC Breakfast GP and is part of the This Morning team, giving advice to viewers.

She says:

• “In the pandemic so many patients have lost loved ones and families have been devastated. The ‘normal’ grief process has been the most difficult thing under lockdown. I have sent condolences cards with The Good Grief cards for my patients. This signposting has prompted them to consider contacting someone for support with their grief. No one should have to grieve alone. I fully endorse that the GP practices should add the Good Grief URL to their text facilities as another way of reaching the bereaved and supporting the mental health of our community” 

Dr Liz O’Riordan was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer whilst working as a consultant breast surgeon in 2015 aged just 40. She’s now a best-selling author, speaker and podcaster and one of the top 100 Female Key Opinion Leaders in Oncology on social media.

Liz needed the help of The Good Grief Trust when her mum died due to bone cancer after having her arm amputated and is passionate about making sure that everyone who’s grieving can get easy access to the support they need

Dr Raj Arora is one of the most prominent and well respected experts within the UK medical landscape.  She is one of the UK’s leading medical educators, a highly respected NHS GP, a media doctor and the founder of The FaceBible Clinic.

She is an active Philanthropist and as an NHS GP she has seen first hand the lack of resources available to patients who are dealing with grief. She will be working closely with the foundation to help educate and raise awareness with regards to the positive impact the good grief trust can have on institutions and individuals. She says:

“Grief is a very personal experience. There is no one size fits all answer and as a national health service we need to recognise that. A lack of support during bereavement can lead to secondary issues such as individuals turning to drugs, alcohol and even self harm/suicide. Grief can have a huge impact on one’s mental health. The Good Grief Trust is an umbrella, it provides a shelter for those going through a difficult time. It also provides different types of support for those who are experiencing grief. I am extremely proud to be an ambassador for the charity – but our work begins now – we need the good grief card and QR code accessible in every primary care clinic (and beyond!)”.

Luke was born in Hull and has two sons with his wife Lynsey. His boxing heritage goes back with his grandfather been an Irish boxing champion. Many of his relatives still live in Ireland.

In 2017, two weeks before Luke fought for the WBA and ring lightweight titles in America, his father sadly died, suddenly back at home in England. Luke didn’t tell anyone as he didn’t want it to affect such an important fight.   Speaking on this Luke said “I probably cried once a day. I had to try and shut my feelings off. After the fight I had a good cry. The only thing that kept me going is I know what my dad would have wanted for me.”

Luke is now ready to talk about his grief and he is passionate to help The Good Grief Trust in our work.  He will be opening a new gym in Hull in 2021 and we will be collaborating on a new initiative to support men’s grief through our Pop Up Cafes.

Jules Lewis is Lead Nurse, Swan/End of Life Care at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust and is passionate to help improve EOLC and bereavement support for all her families.

Jules will be working closely with our Project Lead on the distribution of our Good Grief cards across all UK NHS Hospital Trusts.

She will help us to work with each EOL and Bereavement team across the UK, to ensure all staff are aware of the benefits of this one central signposting resource and that we plug the gaps that currently exist in the provision of early signposting for the bereaved.

Steve is based at King’s College NHS Trust.  As a clinical academic, Steve’s role combines research and teaching with clinical practice as a social worker in palliative care.

Steve is currently Co-Principal Investigator and lead researcher on a Marie Curie funded research project exploring the needs of children facing the death of a parent, known as the Supporting Children and Young People (SCYP) Project.

Steve’s research interests include the impact of life-limiting illness on the whole family; paediatric palliative care; the financial burden of illness; providing appropriate end-of-life care to the LGBT+ community; and improving pre-and post bereavement support.  His experience working with bereaved families within his Trust is invaluable to our work.

Simon has had a successful career in hospitality over the past 30 years, working with many of the key high street brands. In his current role he is busy travelling the UK as Operations Manager at YO! Sushi.

"I am passionate about people and love to see them develop while working alongside me. I am a massive supporter of The Good Grief Trust and extremely happy to join the team".

Simon has a true empathy for those suffering from grief and we are sure he will be an incredible support to us at GGT. We're extremely grateful to you for offering your time and expertise.

Julie Alexander Cooper
PhD, MSc, Dip. L.C., Cert. L.C., Fryog, YMCA, MBBO, MBASES, MASO.
Julie is a highly respected and qualified health and weight management scientist, who has been actively involved in exercise, health and nutrition for over 18 years
She has helped many individuals reach their goals with programmes that are holistic and take into consideration each persons wellbeing and lifestyle and has been invited to present at several national and international conferences,

Luke was born in Hull and has two sons with his wife Lynsey. His boxing heritage goes back with his grandfather been an Irish boxing champion. Many of his relatives still live in Ireland.

In 2017, two weeks before Luke fought for the WBA and ring lightweight titles in America, his father sadly died, suddenly back at home in England. Luke didn’t tell anyone as he didn’t want it to affect such an important fight.   Speaking on this Luke said “I probably cried once a day. I had to try and shut my feelings off. After the fight I had a good cry. The only thing that kept me going is I know what my dad would have wanted for me.”

Luke is now ready to talk about his grief and he is passionate to help The Good Grief Trust in our work.  He will be opening a new gym in Hull in 2021 and we will be collaborating on a new initiative to support men’s grief through our Pop Up Cafes.

Denise is part of the original pop group Tight Fit.  She had a No. 1 single with a cover version of The Lion Sleeps tonight and a top 5 hit with “Fantasy Island” in 1982. The band re-formed in 2010.  Denise has experienced the death of both her brother and more recently her father in 2020.  She is a key member of our team at GGT, always enthusiastic about bringing people together, hosting events, and raising much needed funds.  Her brilliant acting skills have supported our National Grief Awareness week stories, with the production of videos to share others stories through drama, during the campaign.

Katie Shalka is our Young Ambassador and has been supporting our charity for almost 3 years.  She has performed in two musical theatre shows, directing and devising a fundraising evening for us at Southwark Theatre, with many of her West End friends.

We are grateful for Katie’s input and support, and know that her personal experience of losing her dad when she was only 15 years old will be a huge asset to our charity and those she supports.

Honor is one of our Young Ambassadors. Her father died when she was 15yrs old and she has been helping us guide young people through their grief since we launched our website. Honor has designed our Young People’s page and co-hosts our 18-24yr old Virtual Good Grief Cafes. These online meet ups have been running throughout Covid19 lockdown and have been invaluable to her age group.

Honor was pivotal in launching our Pop Up Cafes at Nottingham Trent University, both for staff and students in 2019.  She will now be embarking on a research project commissioned by us in collaboration with Pastoral and Chaplaincy teams let by Notts Trent and a number of other universities. The project will focus on developing a new bereavement policy to support students, with a view to rolling out the initiative to all UK universities.

Georgia is a new member of our team and currently co-hosts our 18-24yr old Virtual Good Grief Cafes. These online meet ups have been running throughout Covid19 lockdown and have been invaluable to her age group.

Georgia’s brother sadly died in 2019 and she was a student at LSE at the time.  She is now working with us to help improve bereavement support for students across the UK.  She will now be embarking on a research project commissioned by us in collaboration with Pastoral and Chaplaincy teams let by Notts Trent and a number of other universities. The project will focus on developing a new bereavement policy to support students, with a view to rolling out the initiative to all UK universities.

Georgia is also helping us to raise awareness of the support needed within the LGBTQ community for those who are grieving and she is organising an event planned to take place during NGAW20.