In episode 290 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Angela Allen.
Angela is the Founder of ‘Bags for Strife’, a charity which supports people bereaved by suicide, set up by people bereaved by suicide.
When Angela’s 23-year-old daughter Katrina died by suicide on 8th November 2019, she reached out to friends and loved ones and asked them what the overriding emotions they felt when they learned of her death. Time and again four emotions were named: blame, anger, guilt and sadness.
Angela was struck by the lack of accessible support for family and friends in the aftermath of suicide grief and wanted to set something up to provide practical and emotional support for those who may need it.
The physical bags the charity provides have been tailored to what they think a bereaved person may need in both the immediate term and longer term, ranging from the practical to the emotional. Through these bags, they hope it will make that period of grief that little bit easier.
Tragically, Angela’s story of suicide grief does not end there as on 5th July 2020, her husband and Katrina’s stepfather Damian, also took his own life. He was just 58 years old.
In this episode we discuss these two huge moments of grief and the impact it had on her life, her family and her mental health.
We explore the emotions around both of these deaths, the nuanced conversations she has had about them in the years since, and how the grief affects her now vs back then.
We then discuss how she’s channelled that grief and turned it into Bags for Strife, and created this vehicle of positivity and support for men and women who have been bereaved by suicide like she was at that time.
As always, #itsokaytovent
Find out more about Bags for Strife here.
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TRIGGER WARNING: this podcast contains a deep discussion about grief, loss and the impact that losing a loved one to suicide can have, so please listen with caution.
