National Grief Awareness Week 2025

Every year from 2 to 8 December, the UK marks National Grief Awareness Week, an important awareness campaign led by The Good Grief Trust. The week aims to normalise conversations about bereavement, reduce isolation, and ensure people affected by grief can access the proper support at the right time.

For National Grief Awareness Week 2025, the official theme is “Growing with Grief”.
This theme highlights that while grief often feels like an ending, it can also be a part of personal growth, resilience, and transformation. It acknowledges that grief shapes who we are, how we cope, and how we move forward, not by “getting over” loss, but by learning to grow alongside it.

In this blog, Anna Nova Galeon will explore what the 2025 theme means for regulated organisations across health, social care, education, housing, justice, and public services. Grief is not confined to personal life; it affects employees, managers, service users, residents, patients, learners, and families. How organisations respond to grief influences wellbeing, safety, safeguarding outcomes, culture, and regulatory compliance.

This awareness week invites regulated organisations to strengthen their approaches, rethink their support systems, and build environments where people can carry their grief with dignity and where growth is possible.

Understanding grief - A complex and individual journey

Grief is the emotional and psychological response to loss. While most often associated with bereavement, people may grieve:

• Loss of health or independence

• Breakdown of relationships

• Redundancy or career change

• Loss of identity, purpose, or community

• Traumatic events or unexpected transitions.

Grief is not a linear process. People may experience cycles of emotions, sadness, anger, confusion, numbness, acceptance, and then return to earlier stages unexpectedly. This fluctuation is normal.

The 2025 theme, “Growing with Grief”, reinforces the idea that grief is not something to fix or outrun. Instead, individuals learn to integrate their loss into their lives, finding meaning, resilience, and renewed purpose over time.

For regulated sectors, the message is clear:
Supporting people through grief is essential to wellbeing, safety, and high-quality care.

Why grief awareness matters for regulated organisations

Below, we outline the four key reasons why grief awareness is essential in regulated environments and how the 2025 theme, “Growing with Grief”, strengthens this focus.

1. Workforce well-being directly affects safety and performance

When employees experience grief, the impact can be significant. They may struggle with:

• Concentration and memory

• Emotional and physical fatigue

• Anxiety, irritability, or withdrawal

• Reduced resilience in high-pressure situations

• Lower capacity to make safe decisions.

In health and social care, where decisions can affect lives, this has real implications for patient safety and compliance with regulatory expectations.

The CQC Single Assessment Framework, Ofsted EIF, NMC Code, and HCPC Standards of Proficiency all highlight staff wellbeing as a component of safe, effective, and compassionate care.

A grief-aware organisation reduces risk, protects staff, and promotes safer outcomes.

2. Supporting service users experiencing grief is a safeguarding priority

People using regulated services face numerous forms of loss, including:

• Death of family members

• Decline in mobility or health

• Change in living arrangements

• Loss of independence

• Bereavement of peers in residential care.

Unaddressed grief can manifest as heightened distress, challenging behaviour, cognitive decline, or withdrawal. Staff must have the competence to identify grief-related changes and respond sensitively.

This is fundamental to safeguarding adults, children, and young people.

3. Inspection bodies expect trauma-informed, compassionate approaches

Across regulated sectors, inspectors increasingly focus on:

• Trauma-informed practice

• Emotional safety

• Support for staff wellbeing

• Compassionate leadership

• Robust policies and staff training

• Reflective practice and organisational culture.

A grief-aware organisation aligns strongly with regulatory expectations in domains such as “Well-Led”, “Caring”, “Responsive”, and “Safe”.

4. Grief shapes organisational culture

A workplace that ignores grief risks creating:

• Silence and stigma

• Staff feel unsupported or pressured to return quickly

• Poor retention and morale

• Reduced trust in leadership

• Lower team cohesion

The theme “Growing with Grief” encourages organisations to cultivate empathy, openness, and flexibility, the foundations of a psychologically safe workplace.

Recognising grief in the workplace

Grief presents uniquely in each person. Common signs include:

Emotional indicators

• Sadness, guilt, anger, numbness

• Sudden emotional reactions

• Anxiety or irritability.

Cognitive impacts

• Difficulty concentrating

• Forgetfulness

• Slower decision-making.

Behavioural changes

• Withdrawal

• Decline in performance

• Avoidance of social interaction.

The goal is not to diagnose grief but to recognise when someone may need support, signposting, or compassionate adjustments.

How regulated organisations can support people to “Grow with Grief”

Below are the five key strategies that organisations can embed to create grief-aware, psychologically safe, and compliant environments:

1. Establish compassionate bereavement policies

Policies should be:

• Accessible, clear, and empathetic

• Flexible in terms of leave and phased return

• Inclusive of diverse cultural and family structures

• Reflective of trauma-informed principles.

A strong bereavement policy sets the foundation for organisational consistency.

2. Train managers in grief-sensitive leadership

Managers often feel unsure how to support grieving staff. Training should address:

• How to open compassionate conversations

• Active listening skills

• Setting reasonable adjustments

• Maintaining professional boundaries

• Recognising when additional support is needed.

Leadership competence is essential for fostering trust and psychological safety.

3. Provide access to emotional well-being support

Support may include:

• Counselling or employee assistance programmes

• Peer support groups

• Reflective practice sessions

• Occupational health referrals

• Signposting to bereavement charities

• Dedicated well-being resources.

The message to staff must be clear:

You are not expected to navigate grief alone.

4. Acknowledge and validate grief in the workplace

Simple actions create meaningful impact:

• Acknowledging losses sensitively

• Recognising anniversaries (if the staff member wishes)

• Allowing time for reflection

• Providing quiet spaces

• Promoting a culture of empathy and awareness.

This reinforces the idea that grief is part of the human experience, not an obstacle to productivity.

5. Support staff experiencing grief due to service user loss

In care homes, hospitals, hospices, schools, and social care settings, staff often form deep relationships with service users. Their deaths can be emotionally significant.

Organisations should ensure:

• Formal debriefs

• Opportunities to reflect

• Emotional support pathways

• Recognition of the emotional labour associated with caring roles.

This aligns with professional standards and enhances team resilience.

How ComplyPlus™ supports grief-aware organisations

Our ComplyPlus™ digital ecosystem helps organisations embed grief-sensitive practice into governance and everyday operations through:

• Up-to-date bereavement, grief awareness, and mental health training

• Automated workflows for bereavement leave and return-to-work processes

• Centralised policies and controlled document management

• Dashboards that track training completion, wellbeing-related modules, and compliance

• Evidence for regulatory inspections

• Digital assurance to demonstrate compassionate governance

• Tools that support team wellbeing, risk management, and safer cultures.

By integrating digital systems with compassionate practice, organisations can strengthen both compliance and culture.

Grow with compassion, strengthen your organisation with ComplyPlus™

At The Mandatory Training Group, we help regulated organisations create supportive, safe, and resilient cultures. Through our online CPD-accredited courses and the ComplyPlus™ ecosystem, your organisation can:

• Strengthen grief and bereavement awareness

• Support workforce wellbeing

• Enhance safeguarding and emotional safety

• Build trauma-informed and compassionate leadership

• Evidence compliance and inspection readiness

• Foster cultures where staff and service users can truly “Grow with Grief”.

Let us help you build a workplace where compassion, competence, and compliance work hand in hand.