Dr Ann Dent - (Chair)
Ann has worked in palliative care and bereavement with adults and children for nearly 30 years, in service provision, education and research when she conducted a national study to ascertain the support given to bereaved parents after the sudden death of their child.
She was chair of the consultant panel of the Child Bereavement Network for four years, and is now chair of the Bereavement Research Forum and Bristol Bereavement Forum. She is patron of The Compassionate Friends and Cruse Bereavement Care (Bristol).
Ann has written many papers on dying and bereaved children and has co-authored several books on child death
Gill Gill - (Membership & Treasurer)
Gill is the Treasurer and has been involved in providing bereavement care to parents and families experiencing loss in pregnancy or in the neonatal period.
The Revd Dr Jonathan Pye
Currently Principal of Wesley College, and Honorary Research Fellow in Medical Ethics in the University of Bristol. Also Associate Lecturer in the University of Cardiff, teaching Healthcare Chaplaincy.
Long experience and interest field of bereavement, has lectured in UK, Canada, Australia and South Korea. Own doctoral and research interest is in peri-natal death but has also written on grief and loss surrounding dementia. Has been a hospital and University Chaplain and taught in the Medical School in Leeds prior to coming to Bristol, also worked as a befriender trainer for The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths.
He was a founder member of the Leeds Bereavement Forum and has been associated with similar bereavement education and care in Brisbane, Australia.
Gill Luff
is currently Chair of Bristol & District Cruse Bereavement Care and has been involved for many years with Staff Support and Supervision in the field of Palliative Care. She has served on the steering committee of the Bereavement Research Forum for several years and was Macmillan Lecturer in Palliative Care at the University of Gloucestershire from 1994-2003. This followed 10 years as Social worker at St Peter's Hospice In Bristol, where she set up the Bereavement Service.
Chris Davies
Chris has been in healthcare chaplaincy in Bristol for the past 20 years. He is currently Head of Spiritual and Pastoral care for both the North Bristol and United Bristol Healthcare Trusts. Chris has wide and varied experience in bereavement issues He is an accredited counselor and supervisor.
Chris is presently seeking to engage with the numerous faith groups represented in the Bristol area to ensure that high quality and appropriate spiritual, religious and pastoral care is available in all the hospitals in the area.
Fiona Hetherington
Fiona joined The Jessie May Trust, a children's charity who provide respite care for life limited children, in January 2004 as the Bereavement Support Worker. She has experience in business and education and enjoyed the challenge of working outside of mainstream education with young adults who have had emotional difficulties. Working with these young adults she gained many of the transferable skills needed to work with bereaved families.
The Bereavement Support Workers role has been a developmental post looking at how The Jessie May Trust can best support the families on their case load. Within her role Fiona works with the families to support them pre and post the death of their child. Fiona also supports The Jessie May Trust nursing staff in their work with the families.
Fiona provides internal and external bereavement training and through this has devised some innovative bereavement tools. She is qualified to post graduate level and has qualifications in business, teaching and counselling.
Mary Ponsford - (Hon Secretary)
Mary came to Bristol as a postgraduate student in the University Department of Surgery. She later joined The Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine where she became a Research Fellow in Immunology. Mary is a bereaved parent. She has been a member of The Compassionate Friends (TCF), an organisation of bereaved parents offering support to child bereaved families sincel 978. Her involvement with the organisation has been at both national and local level.
She co-chaired the organising for the TCF National Gathering in 1995. Mary has been a member of the TCF National Committee during which time she was National Fundraising Co-ordinator. Now Mary is the Bristol TCF Contact and runs a bereavement group in Bristol. She is also involved with training and advising other bereavement organisations on best practice in he care of child bereaved families
Stephen Hoddell
Stephen Hoddell has been a Samaritan volunteer in Bristol since 1973, and is currently Director of the Bristol branch of Samaritans. He also serves as a member of the Strategy Development Committee for Samaritans nationally.
Stephen studied Philosophy at Cambridge University, and then Theoretical Physics at London University. He undertook postgraduate research at Bristol University before taking various posts in industry, and thereby becoming an engineer. He was appointed to a lectureship at Bristol Polytechnic in 1983.
After the Polytechnic became the University of the West of England in 1992, Stephen was appointed to a Professorship in Engineering, and undertook the role of Dean of Engineering. In 2001 he became Dean of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, and subsequently Pro Vice-Chancellor.
He is married with two children, and regularly plays two rather contrasting musical instruments – treble recorder and double bass, although not at the same time.
Dr. Gundula Dorey
Her interest in the issues surrounding bereavement has come from several directions, including the conducting of non-religious funerals over a period of 5 years, which demonstrated the enormous resourcefulness of family and friends to come together when they had the funeral ceremony to focus on, but also continually raised the question - what happens afterwards?
She began my working life as a biologist in medical research, then retrained in social studies and completed 22 years with Avon Probation Service, working with the Courts, with offenders in the community and with prisoners and their families. Since early retirement 11 years ago she has undertaken a variety of paid and voluntary work through several organisations, including Age Concern South Gloucestershire and Age Concern Bristol and Bristol Older People’s Forum.
She is shaped also by green politics, and by a long held interest in archaeology – which shows not least the importance we have always given to death and the emotions that go with it.
Her particular interest lies in the support which can be offered to older people on bereavement.
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