We are open to referrals for any child or young person between 4 and 19 years of age (up to age 24 in special circumstances only) whose home or school is in Cambridgeshire, and who has experienced the death of a close family member, or other significant person.
We are not currently accepting new referrals where a bereavement is anticipated but has yet to occur.
Once we have accepted a referral, we will arrange an initial assessment with one of our counsellors. Depending on the outcome of the assessment we may then offer one-to-one counselling. We provide up to six sessions of counselling for most cases and up to nine for more complex cases.
In addition, we provide telephone advice to families and schools supporting children and young people experiencing or facing close bereavement.
We are not an emergency health care intervention service. We do not provide an urgent response to acute mental health issues arising or aggravated by bereavement. Please contact your GP for a referral to NHS mental health services if you think that a child or young person is acutely unwell and needing urgent attention.
We are unable to accept referrals for children and young people who live in Peterborough. Referrals from Peterborough for young people aged 13 and above can be made to Centre 33 https://centre33.org.uk/help/how-we-can-help/ For younger children, please ask your GP, school or family worker for advice.
To make a referral, please download and complete the referrals form and email this to info@talktostars.org.uk If you have any difficulties in completing the form, please phone 01223 292276 or email info@talktostars.org.uk. You can also use these contact details to ask for advice or support. If we are unable to answer the phone, then leave a confidential message and we will call you back as soon as we can.
We are currently experiencing a high level of referrals and are managing a backlog of cases from the pandemic. We are working through these as fast as we can but have limited resources. Waiting times for an initial assessment are currently around 18 weeks, but we may see some cases sooner depending on the circumstances. Please check our website regularly for updates.
We also recommend the resources available at www.wintstonswish.org and www.childbereavement.org.
