RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims, is looking for bereaved families in North Yorkshire who would be interested in taking part in their Resilience Building Programme, a trauma support programme, run by trained bereavement counsellors, which helps families cope with some of the symptoms of sudden and traumatic bereavement. The upcoming programme is running online over 8 weekly sessions starting Tuesday 7th June.
“The programme has helped us so much and although life will never be the same again, the programme has given us the tools to use and an idea of how to live the rest of our lives”
With the backing of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, RoadPeace is developing peer-to-peer support services in North Yorkshire for those who have been bereaved or seriously injured in a road crash.
These include two bi-monthly support groups, one for bereaved and one for injured victims. These groups are facilitated by coordinators who are keen to use their own experiences of road traffic tragedy to help others in the region.
Support group meetings for bereaved families are held bi-monthly on the last Tuesday of the month. Support group meetings for injured victims are held bi-monthly on the last Wednesday.
Sally Howard, RoadPeace’s Support Services Manager, says: “Road crash victims and families need to be able to talk to people who have experience and an understanding of what they are going through.
“Life is never the same after a bereavement or serious injury caused by a road crash. But with these new support services, RoadPeace hopes to give North Yorkshire’s road crash victims the chance to rebuild the best life possible.”
According to collision information from North Yorkshire County Council and the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, from 2016 to 2020 there were 6,137 road collisions in the region that have resulted in death or injury.
The data is collected by York and North Yorkshire police officers who investigate the road collisions. Of the total number of crashes recorded over the past five years, 1,424 were serious and 160 fatal.
Nick Simmons, RoadPeace CEO, says: “British road deaths have stayed at the same level since 2010 – at around 1,800 people killed every year – which equates to five preventable deaths every day. Much more needs to be done to support and find justice for those victims and their families.
“We are determined to reach more victims and continue to develop much needed peer-to-peer support for local crash victims and help the police and Family Liaison Offices support families in the aftermath of a road crash.”
For more information about the Resilience Building Programme or the North Yorkshire support meetings call 0845 4500 355 or email helpline@roadpeace.org. For more details about RoadPeace go to www.roadpeace.org.
Updated on: 17 May 2022