Our story
Why we started The Grief Club
I know how lonely grief can feel
When I was losing my mum to a rare degenerative brain disease, I searched for somewhere that could help me understand what was happening not just emotionally, but practically too.
I found kindness. I found counselling.
But I never found the community I longed for. A place where I didn't have to pretend I was coping. A place where people simply understood.
So I created it.
Today, The Grief Club is everything I needed during my own grief journey, a place where people can learn about grief, feel understood and realise they don't have to face it alone.
What I believe
At the heart of The Grief Club is one simple truth.
You are not broken. You are grieving.
Grief isn't something we "get over." It's something we learn to carry differently.
There is no right way to grieve. No timeline to follow.
No expectation that you should somehow become the person you were before your loss.
When we understand what's happening in our minds and bodies and when we're surrounded by people who truly understand something begins to change.
Not because grief disappears. But because it becomes easier to live alongside.
"Joanna helped me realise that even seven years on, I'm still allowed to grieve. The Grief Club has given me lasting friendships, acceptance of my new life and more peace than I've had for a very long time."
Helen
My experience
Before creating The Grief Club, I spent more than thirty years supporting people through some of life's most challenging moments in policing, leadership and higher education.
Alongside my own lived experience, I've continued to deepen my understanding of grief, coaching, leadership and human behaviour through postgraduate study, professional qualifications and ongoing research.
The Grief Club brings all of that together into a programme that is compassionate, practical and grounded in evidence.
