The Compassionate Friends Victoria Inc.

17/10/2026

Su***de Bereavement Support

Grief following a death by su***de can carry experiences that are difficult to explain, even among people who understand grief and loss.

Alongside the heartbreak of losing someone deeply loved, there can be shock, trauma, unanswered questions, guilt, regret, anger, confusion and feelings of responsibility. There may also be the impact of what happened before or surrounding the death, including crisis situations, hospitals, emergency services, 000 calls, or witnessing a su***de or su***de attempt.

These experiences can become part of the grief too.

At The Compassionate Friends Victoria, our su***de bereavement support brings together people who have experienced the death of a child, sibling or grandchild through su***de.

Our su***de-specific support meetings provide a place where the complexities of su***de loss can be spoken about openly, without having to explain why certain thoughts, feelings or experiences remain so difficult.

There is no expectation to have answers, to make sense of what happened, or to be at any particular place in your grief.

Sometimes there is simply something profoundly different about sitting in a room with people who understand why the questions can remain, why guilt and regret can be so consuming, and why the circumstances of a death can continue to sit alongside the grief of missing the person who died.

TCFV’s su***de bereavement support is peer led and offered by people with lived experience of child, sibling and grandchild loss.

For information about our su***de bereavement support and upcoming meetings, please visit our website
https://www.compassionatefriendsvictoria.org.au/.../suic.../

16/10/2026

💙💛💜
Yes, I hope they rest in peace
but
they deserved
a long life
filled with
rest,
peace,
joy,
and safety
long before
death cradled them
and carried them away
- Sara Rian

Rest in peace. Words we say with so much love, yet words we wish we never had to say.

They deserved more than peace in death. They deserved years of living, of feeling safe, of being loved, of finding happiness, of growing older and experiencing all that life still had waiting for them.

We wanted a lifetime for them, not a resting place.
Artist Credit: Unknown via Pinterest

16/10/2026

Dia de los Mu***os (Day of the Dead)
💛❤️💜🧡💙
You are warmly invited to join us at the Centre as we celebrate Día de los Mu***os (Day of the Dead).
This is a warm and friendly social gathering where we can come together to remember, honour and celebrate the lives of those we love.
We invite you to bring a photo of your loved one to add to our special banners, creating a beautiful shared tribute to those we carry in our hearts.
Please bring a plate of your loved one’s favourite food to share with others. We’ll provide the drinks, including some refreshing sangria.
We hope you’ll join us for an evening of good food, connection, stories and remembering.
Please vivit our webiste to register or to find out more information.
https://www.compassionatefriendsvictoria.org.au/.../dia.../
DATE: Friday 30 October 2026
VENUE: TCFV Centre, 229 Canterbury Road, Canterbury
TIME: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
RSVP: Monday 26 October

15/10/2026

🧡💙💜
I am so grateful for the people who ask me about my loss,
The people who don't expect me to have moved on. The people who understand that I'm grieving heavily, no matter how long it's been, and that I won't be ok for quite some time.

For many who are grieving, the greatest comfort comes not from advice or reassurance, but from being seen exactly where they are.

There is deep gratitude for the people who ask about the loss, not out of obligation, but out of care. The ones who speak the name that still matters. The ones who don’t look away when the answer isn’t neat or hopeful. Their questions say, I remember. I’m still here.

There is relief in being around those who don’t expect healing on a schedule. Who understand that grief isn’t something to “get through,” but something that reshapes a life. These people make space for the truth: that the pain is heavy, ongoing, and real.

To be allowed not to be okay, for as long as it takes is a quiet kind of kindness. And in a world that often rushes grief, those who stay present, patient, and open-hearted become an anchor. Not because they fix the pain, but because they honour it.

15/10/2026

FREE Grief Relief Crafternoon - Morse Code Jewellery
My Crafternoons x Grief Relief
Sun 25 Oct 10am-12pm
Outside Inn, 33 McGregors Rd, Wannon VIC 3301, Gunditjmara country.

Spend a couple of hours in a cool brewery making paper portraits with other legends!
Join the team for a special Crafternoon for Grief Relief, creating beaded jewellery with meaningful hidden messages.

Set among the bush surrounds of The Outside Inn just 14 mins outside of Hamilton, we’ll use Morse code in beads to spell names and words we carry close to our hearts.

You’ll design and create your own bespoke beaded necklace or bracelet, learning how to plan your design and use jewellery-making tools and findings to bring your piece together.

This session is designed for parents and siblings navigating loss, offering a gentle space for joyful creativity, connection and shared understanding. Suitable for ages 6+ if supported by an adult!

You’re welcome to bring along jewellery of your own that you may like to take beads from and incorporate into your creation.

No experience is needed, just come as you are!

Tickets are free, with an optional pay-what-you-feel donation to support Grief Relief, a charity dedicated to helping families following the loss of a child.
https://events.humanitix.com/griefrelief

This is an intimate workshop with limited places, so please book via the link to reserve your spot. For assistance with booking, contact Josh at The Outside Inn on 0409 566 000.

We look forward to welcoming you to this tranquil natural retreat near Wannon Falls in the Southern Grampians for a morning of creativity, reflection and connection.

This sounds delightful, how do I join in?
https://events.humanitix.com/griefrelief

💕 Tickets are free thanks to Grief Relief including all tools, materials & tuition, with donations welcome towards their cause.
Please Note: This is not a TCFV Event

14/10/2026

14/10/2026

Returning to Work After Loss – TCFV Community Only
Going back to work after losing someone you love can feel incredibly difficult.
Even when weeks or months have passed, returning to a workplace can bring up strong emotions. Concentrating, making decisions, managing conversations and simply getting through the day can feel very different while you are grieving.
Those within the TCFV community don’t have to navigate this transition alone.
Our Return to Work Support can help you and your workplace understand what you need and how they can support you.
We can:
Talk with your employer or colleagues about grief and how they can support you
Provide a presentation or informal discussion at your workplace
Accompany you to work and help facilitate conversations with your manager or colleagues
Everyone’s return to work is different. You may need flexibility, a gradual return, extra time or simply a workplace where people understand that grief doesn’t end when you walk through the door.
This is a free service available exclusively to those bereaved of a child, sibling or grandchild in the TCFV Community.
Register here for your free account to access our services:
https://www.compassionatefriendsvictoria.org.au/being-a-member-of-tcfv/
Please contact us for Return to Work Support by emailing Jane at [email protected] or call us on (03) 9888 4034.
For more information please visit:
https://www.compassionatefriendsvictoria.org.au/education/members-only-return-to-work/

13/10/2026

🧡🩷🧡
You are always on my mind.
Always ...
In the ordinary moments of everyday life. In the moments that matter. In everything I do, everything I experience, everything I feel.

You can be completely absorbed in something else and still be thinking of your loved one. You can go about your day, fulfil your responsibilities, have conversations, make plans, and your person is still there.

You don't have to stop what you are doing to remember them. Youdon't have to consciously bring them into your thoughts.

They are already there.

It's difficult to explain how you can continue living a life that demands so much of your attention when someone you love has died occupies so much of your mind.

But that's what it means to live with their absence ...

"You are always on my mind. Even when my mind is on everything else."
Artist Credit: Unknown via Pinterest

13/10/2026

💙 Remember, with me
Is a TCFV Fundraising Initiative ...
remembering someone we love is something we carry with us every day. Sharing their name, their stories and their memories with others is a beautiful way to keep them part of our lives.
TCFV's Remember, with me initiative brings remembrance and fundraising together, inviting you to host a gathering in memory of your child, sibling or grandchild while helping us continue supporting other bereaved families.
Your gathering can be as simple and personal as you wish. An opportunity to bring people together, share memories, remember your person and raise funds for a cause that means so much to our community.
We've put together some helpful ideas, practical resources and information to make organising your gathering a little easier.
💙 We invite you to learn more about Remember, with me and how you can be involved.
Visit our website for all the details:
https://www.compassionatefriendsvictoria.org.au/welcome-remember/

13/10/2026

💜💙💜
What Cannot Be Said Will Be Wept.

There is a depth of grief that words cannot reach.

You can speak about the person you love, about their death, about how much you miss them. You can say the same things over and over, searching for words that come close to the enormity of what you are living with. But no matter how much you say, there is always more than language can hold.

And sometimes there is simply nothing left to say.

The tears come instead.

Sometimes they begin before you've even realised you're crying. Sometimes they interrupt the words you were trying to speak. And sometimes they break through everything, overwhelming you with the terrible truth of a loss you already know so well.

There is something deeply human about that. The way we can understand exactly what has happened, know precisely what we feel, and still be utterly incapable of expressing it.

How do you put into words the absence of someone whose existence was part of your own? How do you describe the sorrow of loving someone who is gone, when every part of you still loves them as fiercely as you ever did?

There are no words, in any language, that can fully express that.

And perhaps what makes these few simple words so profoundly true is that tears do not always come from something we haven't said.

Sometimes they come from everything we have said, everything we know, everything we cannot change, and the unbearable reality that none of the words will ever be enough.
Artist Credit: Unknown via Pinterest