Bereavement Services Challenge

What was the Bereavement Services Challenge?

We worked with the Mayor of London to design and deliver the Mayor’s Resilience Fund which included two phases:

• Open call for local authorities, government agencies and charities in London to partner with us as problem-holders (2020)
• Designed and delivered 10 city-based challenges (2021)

The Mayor’s Resilience Fund was funded by the London Economic Action Partnership.

What was this challenge about?

Develop an accessible and culturally competent solution that enables more personalised bereavement guidance and support for Londoners from minority ethnic groups bereaved by, or during COVID-19. The solution should reflect local minority ethnic community history and culture.

Where?

End user co-development will determine specific geographic parameters; example locales in which minority ethnic communities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 are Newham, Brent and Hackney.

Who were the end users?

Initial end users for a pilot are Londoners from minority ethnic groups bereaved by COVID-19 or during the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring co-development of specific target end users within this segment, with the expectation that a solution can be expanded to incorporate other types of services and users in the future.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MAYOR’S RESILIENCE FUND

Who won the Challenge?

Loss in Translation by Apart of Me, a peer led grief activism project, won the Challenge. It aims to empower young people to transform their grief into compassion. The team will work together with young people from minority ethnic backgrounds, to reduce the risk of complicated grief.

Background information

• There were 15,804 deaths occurring in London between 1 March 2020 and 29 January 2021 that involved COVID-19, representing 27% of all deaths occurring over this period (57,921 deaths). (Source: ONS)
  Reviews have revealed that minority ethnic groups are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as those of white ethnicity.
• Minority ethnic communities vary from 13% to 69% across London borough populations; with the worst affected by COVID-19 boroughs are home to many diverse and vibrant communities – e.g. Newham, Brent and Hackney.
• COVID-19 will continue to have a major impact on the individual and societal experience of death, dying, and bereavement; the restrictions in place have prevented the usual cultural practices and responses to this.
• Barriers to culturally competent bereavement support pre-exist the pandemic but have been exacerbated by the disproportionate COVID-19 mortality rate of Londoners from minority ethnic groups.