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Articles which can provide help and support around coping with bereavement
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What we do
FirstLight offers free professional support and provides information to families in Ireland that have experienced the death of their child if aged from 0 to 18 years.
FirstLight is a trauma-informed organisation, offering Crisis Intervention and a Psychotherapy service. Our services are provided nationwide by our team of professionally accredited, fully insured and Garda-vetted psychotherapists and counsellors. Our team members are professionally trained to provide support to clients experiencing trauma associated with the death of their child. All of our services to families are free of charge and confidential.
Our mission
FirstLight’s mission is to:
- Deliver appropriate professional support services to bereaved parents and families including first encounter, crisis intervention and on-going support services;
- Promote training for frontline professionals who encounter bereaved parents and families;
- Raise awareness of FirstLight’s professional support services and;
- Promote research into child mortality and intervention campaigns to reduce the incidences of sudden death
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Latest News & Features
October Newsletter 2024 – Baby Loss Awareness Week
As we move into Autumn with cooler weather and darker evenings our landscape is filled with vivid colours...
- Dated: 10 Oct 2024
Recruiting: Charity Trustee & Board Member
FirstLight supports bereaved parents and families across Ireland. Find out about our work here: FirstLight We are...
- Dated: 11 Sep 2024
AGM Notice 2024
IRISH SUDDEN INFANT DEATH ASSOCIATION t/a FirstLight COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE WITHOUT A SHARE CAPITAL: COMPANY NUMBER 113349...
- Dated: 31 May 2024
The FirstLight Families Podcast Series – Zack’s Story
"If someone lives in our shoes for a week, a month, even a day, to experience the pain,...
- Dated: 13 Mar 2024
The FirstLight Families Podcast Series – Emily’s Story
"For other, say, dads in particular, that might not be inclined to talk to someone or talk to...
- Dated: 13 Mar 2024
The FirstLight Families Podcast Series – Finn’s Story
"It's okay to feel every single emotion under the sun. It's okay to be angry...you're not going mad...just...
- Dated: 13 Mar 2024
The FirstLight Families Podcast Series – Áine’s Story
"I don't want to be fixed, because if I was fixed it means I would be over losing...
- Dated: 13 Mar 2024
March 2024 Newsletter
We have just passed Imbolc, an Irish festival that marks the beginning of spring. March has arrived with...
- Dated: 08 Mar 2024
January 2024 Newsletter – National Grief Awareness Week
National Grief Awareness Week will take place this year from Monday the 22nd until Sunday 28th of January....
- Dated: 22 Jan 2024
December 2023 Newsletter
As we move towards the end of the year and Christmas time, a season so associated with celebration...
- Dated: 12 Dec 2023
FirstLight Requires 2 Experienced Psychotherapists to Join our Team.
FirstLight is a national charity providing professional crisis intervention and counselling services to parents and families who have...
- Dated: 29 Nov 2023
Atlantic Bro-ing Interview Limerick Live 98fm
Eamon Breen of Atlantic Bro-ing was interviewed in November on Limerick Radio Station Live 95. Eamon and...
- Dated: 16 Nov 2023
Special Edition Newsletter November – Bereaved Children’s Awareness Week 2023
The Irish Childhood Bereavement Network (ICBN) is a hub for those working with bereaved children and young people...
- Dated: 13 Nov 2023
October 2023 Newsletter
Baby Loss Awareness Week 9th - 15th October 2023 October 23 Newsletter
- Dated: 05 Oct 2023
Introducing FirstLight’s New CEO Jennifer McCarthy Flynn
We are delighted to announce that Jennifer McCarthy Flynn has been appointed as FirstLight's new Chief Executive...
- Dated: 04 Oct 2023
August 2023 Newsletter
Over the last 6 years, for the benefit of some 758 families who have suffered the devastating loss...
- Dated: 01 Aug 2023
Adolescent Loss
By the Irish Childhood Bereavement Network Adolescence is a time of huge change. These years are marked by...
- Dated: 19 May 2023
Grief and Life Beyond Child Loss: A Father’s Words
By Nick Rhodes, Matters of a Mans Heart Sophia passed away in my arms on October 4th, 2011....
- Dated: 13 Apr 2023
April 2023 Newsletter
We continue to see through our work the societal pressure on Dads following a loss. Many bereaved Dads...
- Dated: 13 Apr 2023
Coping with Mother’s Day After Child Loss
Chris Raymond of FuneralHelpCenter.com discusses how to navigate Mother's Day After Child Loss
- Dated: 16 Mar 2023
January 2023 Newsletter
FirstLight supported 71 families across the country who had lost their child prior to 2022, a further 160...
- Dated: 25 Jan 2023
FirstLight Advice to Individuals Supporting a Suddenly Bereaved Family
FirstLight is a trauma-informed organisation, and a member of the Critical Incident Stress Management Network of Ireland. We...
- Dated: 25 Jan 2023
Support and Advice for Parents around Children and Bereavement
Elaine Masterson, Clinical Manager for FirstLight discusses how do we honour and grieve the child that has died...
- Dated: 14 Nov 2022
November 2022 Newsletter
The ICBN of which FirstLight is a member organisation has organised Bereaved Children’s Awareness Week, November 14 -18....
- Dated: 03 Nov 2022
Part-time Administrator with FirstLight
6-month Contract – with the possibility of extension FirstLight – a long-established, national charity providing professional crisis intervention and counselling...
- Dated: 02 Sep 2022
How to Cope With the Loss of a Grandchild or Great-Grandchild
When a grandchild or great-grandchild dies, it’s not just their life you grieve but also all the hopes...
- Dated: 01 Sep 2022
Comforting Parents After the Loss of Their Baby or Child
It is always difficult to find the words to comfort someone who is grieving, perhaps even more so...
- Dated: 01 Sep 2022
September 2022 Newsletter
This edition has a special focus on the upcoming Baby Loss Awareness Week (October 9 to 15) September...
- Dated: 01 Sep 2022
May 2022 Newsletter
In this issue, we focus on FirstLight’s Mile in Memory Remembrance Walks 2022 May-2022-NewsletterDownload
- Dated: 26 May 2022
Irish Sudden Infant Death Association AGM Notice
ISIDA AGM Notice 21-June-2022Download
- Dated: 26 May 2022
FirstLight Expanding Counsellors Register
Demand for FirstLight’s services in 2021 was the highest since the organisation was established 45 years ago, with...
- Dated: 11 May 2022
March 2022 Newsletter
This edition of our newsletter focuses on Mother's Day and the particular challenges that can come with that...
- Dated: 24 Mar 2022
February 2022 Newsletter
This edition of our newsletter focuses on FirstLight's third Memory Patch Quilt, as well as sharing advice for...
- Dated: 02 Feb 2022
Sabina Higgins Views FirstLight Memory Patch Quilt at Áras an Uachtaráin
On Thursday, November 25th, FirstLight’s patron Sabina Higgins very kindly hosted a photo shoot at Áras an Uachtaráin...
- Dated: 02 Feb 2022
HSE Raises Awareness of Bereavement and Grief this Winter
In December the HSE launched a number of supports to help people who have been bereaved. The global...
- Dated: 01 Feb 2022
Coping With the Sudden Death of a Child
By Denise Witmer from VeryWell Family When someone close dies at an older age, people often take comfort...
- Dated: 01 Feb 2022
FirstLight Nominated as Charity Partner for New Online Store
FirstLight is honoured to have been nominated as one of the charity partners for Wrapped in Kindness a...
- Dated: 11 Jan 2022
November 2021 Newsletter
This Newsletter has a particular focus on supporting children who have experienced bereavement in childhood. I was recently...
- Dated: 12 Nov 2021
Interview with Georgia Howard on the Power of You Podcast by Jen Cameron
To coincide with Baby Loss Awareness 2021, FirstLight's Clinical Services Director, Georgia Howard, was interviewed by Jen Cameron on...
- Dated: 14 Oct 2021
September 2021 Newsletter
This edition of our Newsletter focuses on Baby Loss Awareness Week which takes place between the 9th and...
- Dated: 01 Oct 2021
July 2021 Newsletter
In this issue, we share some beautiful photographs taken during the recent Mile in Memory walks. 14 walks...
- Dated: 16 Jul 2021
AGM Notice 2021
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Company will, due to social distancing requirements...
- Dated: 26 May 2021
May 2021 Newsletter
Included in this Edition is a reference to a resource (Pregnancy After Loss: A day-by-day plan to reassure...
- Dated: 30 Apr 2021
March 2021 Newsletter
Inside you will find a piece by Ian Lawton, a bereaved father, whose second son Hank died when...
- Dated: 26 Mar 2021
Former League of Ireland Star Undertaking Walking Relay Challenge in Support of FirstLight
This April, entrepreneur and former League of Ireland Premier Division star Jesse Devers will undertake a walking challenge...
- Dated: 24 Mar 2021
A Time For Reflection By Georgia Howard, Clinical Services Director, FirstLight
The loneliness and isolation felt by the bereaved have been compounded by the restrictions which have created a...
- Dated: 18 Feb 2021
Support for Grieving in Exceptional Times By the Irish Hospice Foundation
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the traditional ways we mark our grief. For the moment, it’s not possible...
- Dated: 16 Feb 2021
February 2021 Newsletter
With the support of our Clinical Director, Georgia Howard, and a team of dedicated psychotherapists and counsellors, and...
- Dated: 12 Feb 2021
November 2020 Newsletter
November is a time for remembrance and in this edition of our Newsletter, we want to share with...
- Dated: 13 Nov 2020
August 2020 Newsletter
August 2020 NewsletterDownload It is more than five months since the Covid-19 Lockdown was initiated and considerable uncertainty...
- Dated: 26 Aug 2020
AGM Notice 2020
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Company will, due to social distancing requirements...
- Dated: 26 Aug 2020
July 2020 Newsletter
Included in this issue are articles by Litsa Williams and Eleanor Haley, mental health professionals with more than...
- Dated: 26 Jun 2020
June 2020 Newsletter
We are very conscious that families experiencing the sudden loss of their child have little or no time...
- Dated: 28 May 2020
Westmeath College Student to Complete 100K Charity Run in aid of FirstLight
Megan Corcoran, a 19-year-old TU Dublin college student from Streamstown, Co. Westmeath will complete a 100K charity run...
- Dated: 07 Apr 2020
Grieving in Exceptional Times by the Irish Hospice Foundation
A death in your family or in your circle of friends is always difficult. You may feel shocked,...
- Dated: 04 Apr 2020
COVID-19 Public Health Advice
HSE Public Health Advice for people giving support and advice for people who need support COVID_19-Advice-when-giving-and-receiving-supportsDownload
- Dated: 04 Apr 2020
March 2020 Newsletter
In these uncertain times, the professional services FirstLight provides are vital to ensuring that suddenly bereaved families across...
- Dated: 31 Mar 2020
The FirstLight Community Spirit Fund
An important message from FirstLight CEO, Fionnuala Sheehan appealing for support to ensure the consistency of FirstLight’s services....
- Dated: 23 Mar 2020
AGM Notice 2020
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held in the Maldron...
- Dated: 28 Feb 2020
January 2020 Newsletter
2019 was a challenging year for the FirstLight clinical team, a challenge the team met with and accomplished...
- Dated: 31 Jan 2020
November 2019 Newsletter
Over the last ten-months FirstLight provided professional counselling support to 94 families across Ireland whose child died suddenly....
- Dated: 12 Nov 2019
AGM Notice 2019
The Irish Sudden Infant Death Association T/A FirstLight AGM 2019 has been relocated to the Garden Room, Carmichael...
- Dated: 11 Nov 2019
FirstLight Memory Patch Quilts History
As the Irish Sudden Infant Death Association approached its 25th anniversary, Bernadette Kiberd, a Registrar of ISIDA, proposed...
- Dated: 23 Jul 2019
FirstLight’s Shine A Light Initiative
We want to introduce an official forum where anyone wishing to do so may submit their poetry, artwork,...
- Dated: 23 Jul 2019
VHI Women’s Mini-Marathon 2019
On June 2, 150 runners and 15 teams participated in the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon in Dublin in...
- Dated: 22 Jul 2019
Mile In-Memory Walk Poem
As we prepare for our Mile In-Memory Weekend, we will over the coming days be sharing a selection...
- Dated: 15 Jun 2019
February 2019 Newsletter
Dear Members and Friends of FirstLight, Thank you for supporting FirstLight in recent times; as well as some...
- Dated: 21 Feb 2019
November 2018 Newsletter
In 2017 over 2,000 children and family members received professional support from FirstLight. It is guaranteed this figure...
- Dated: 17 Dec 2018
