Alice’s Story

Alice Cutler is Miss Great Britain 2025/26, the founder of ‘Time to Grieve’ and a qualified solicitor. Having lived with grief for most of her life, losing both her parents by just 18, Alice is passionate about campaigning and advocating for people struggling with grief. We’re incredibly grateful to Alice for sharing her story with Cruse.

I’ve had a lot of experiences of grief throughout my life, which have shaped who I am today.

It began when I was nine years old and my dad was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 2006.  At nine, I had no concept of what cancer meant, but I knew it was bad. My mum was an eternal optimist. She promised us that when Dad got better, he’d walk us to school, we’d get a dog, life would return to normal.

But just before Christmas, on 10^th December 2006, he died at home. Even in that first year, only a few weeks later, Mum did everything she could to keep Christmas magical. Because of her, Christmas never became something dark or painful. It was something we embraced, just a little later after Dad’s anniversary.

Grief felt like a constant presence in my life

After that, unfortunately, we then lost a family member every year for a while and grief felt like a constant presence in my life. In the years that followed I lost my Nan, several great aunts and my Grandad. At one point, going to funerals felt like a regular family occasion.

In May 2015, we also lost my Aunt Trisha. On the day of her funeral, 10^th June 2015, we were driving from the service to the wake when we were involved in a head on car accident. My mum died in the accident. I had just turned 18 and in that moment, I lost my last surviving parent, my home, my financial security – everything. I broke my spine in the accident, so was also dealing with my physical recovery alongside dealing with a criminal court case and Mum’s estate. My brother and I had to move in with my aunt and uncle Julie and Steve, and began rebuilding our lives from scratch.

Coping with grief

At 28, I’ve had a lot of experiences of grief, and they’ve all been different. It took time for me to learn how best to process and live alongside my grief. For a long time, I coped by keeping busy and functioning on the surface, often turning to comfort eating as a way to numb the pain. I wasn’t actively dealing with my grief.

Over the years, therapy has helped me understand my grief in a healthier way. It taught me that there is no right timeline, and no ‘wrong’ way to feel. You don’t suddenly move through stages like anger or sadness in order; grief comes and goes, and sometimes unexpectedly. 10 years on from losing mum and almost 20 years since losing Dad, I still get days where I go home to my partner, and I need some time. He hasn’t been through it himself so he doesn’t directly understand, but he is understanding. Some days you feel fine, and then something will trigger a wave of emotion, and that is completely normal.

My grief has shaped me, but it doesn’t stop me

I’ve realised that grief doesn’t have to be a destructive force – it can become part of who you are, shaping you but not stopping you. My experiences led me to start campaigning for paid bereavement leave. As a qualified solicitor, I couldn’t believe that in the UK there’s no legal right to time off work when a loved one dies, unless a parent loses a child under 18. I launched a campaign called ‘Time to Grieve’, with a petition which gathered over 3,100 signatures and sparked conversations about the urgent need for legal protection and support. Becoming Miss Great Britain has given me a platform to amplify this work, reaching national media and forming partnerships with charities.

Through my campaigning and advocacy, I’ve been able to support others navigating loss while pushing for meaningful, systemic change. Any way I can make someone else’s experience a little less painful than mine feels important. It can never undo what I’ve been through, but if it helps someone else, then it means it wasn’t for nothing.

Building a life around loss

I’ve learnt that it’s possible to go on and do amazing things. I wouldn’t have believed I could be Miss Great Britain, have a career I love, a home, my dog Otis, my partner and the most incredible friends. Life goes on, and it can be just as amazing, if not more amazing, than you imagined before losing loved ones.

Grief never goes away, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Grief is the love that we had for the people we’ve lost, and we can carry them with us onwards in our journey. You CAN build a life around your grief, rather than letting it stop you from living. A life which your loved ones are still a part of, and reflects the memories and love you shared.

Grief doesn’t have to be the end of your story, but it is part of it.