Helpline
Our Helpline volunteers are here to help you make sense of how you're feeling.
Our Helpline is run by trained bereavement volunteers, who offer emotional support to anyone affected by grief.
We’ll give you space to talk about your feelings and how you’ve been coping. Our volunteers are completely non-judgemental and won’t share what you’ve told them with anyone else, unless you are in danger.
Give us a call
You can call us for free on 0808 808 1677.
Opening hours
- Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 9.30am-5pm
- Tuesday: 1pm – 8pm
- Saturday – Sunday: Closed
We’re really sorry if we can’t answer your call straight away
Our helpline is really busy, and we’re really sorry if we can’t answer your call straight away. Please do keep trying. If you are struggling in the meantime, please do call Samaritans on 116 123.
Email Service – Opening Hours:
You can contact us through our webform at any time.
Our bereavement volunteers will respond to enquiries:
- Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 9am – 5pm
- Tuesday, Thursday: 9am – 8:00pm
- Saturdays 10am – 2pm
From the 9th December the Helpline opening hours will change:
National Phone Lines will be open
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 10am-2pm
National Email Service will be open
You can contact us through our webform at any time.
Our bereavement volunteers will respond to enquiries:
- Monday and Friday: 9am – 5pm
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 9am – 8:00pm
- Saturday: 10am – 2pm
Over the festive period the Helpline Phone Lines will be open (the email service will be as above)
- Christmas Eve (24th December): email service only
- Christmas Day (25th December): 10am – 2pm
- Boxing Day (26th December): closed
- 27th December: 10am – 2pm
- 28th December: email service only
- 29th December: closed
- 30th December: 10am – 2pm
- New Years Eve (31st December): email service only
- New Years Day (1st January): closed
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes – the Helpline is completely free from all UK landlines and mobiles.
People call us for all sorts of reasons. Here are some things you might want to talk to us about:
- How you’re feeling i.e. angry, tired or anxious
- How you’re feeling physically i.e. lack of appetite, lack of concentration or sleeplessness
- How the person died
- How you’re coping
- Your relationships to other people after death
- How to talk to children or young people about death
Whilst we aren’t here to tell you what to do in your situation, we are here to listen, to let you talk and offload, and help you find ways to adapt and cope with your situation. We can also tell you about the other services Cruse offers, as well as other organisations that might be able to provide the kind of support you’re looking for.
There are a few things we aren’t able to provide direct advice or guidance on, simply because our volunteers are not trained in these things. These are:
- Financial issues
- Medical concerns, symptoms or procedures
- Legal issues
We don’t put a time limit on Helpline calls. But from experience we know that talking about difficult situations and emotions can be tiring. So our volunteers might suggest you round off the call so you can have time to reflect and rest. You are always welcome to call us back at another time.
You are more than welcome to call us any time you need us. You probably won’t speak to the same volunteer if you call again, but all our volunteers are trained in the same way and are able to provide the same levels of support.
If you find the support on the Helpline helpful, you may want to consider getting some ongoing support from one our local Cruse branches. There you can access one-to-one or group support, where you will get the chance to talk to the same Bereavement Volunteer over a number of scheduled sessions.
We’re sorry you can’t get through to us at the moment. We’re getting a lot more calls than usual and we’re really sorry if we can’t answer you straight away.
We would suggest that calling when we first open at 9.30 or from 1-2pm might shorten waiting times due to lower waiting times at these points in the day.
That’s up to you. If you would like to find out more about ongoing support you can contact your local Cruse area. They will be able to let you know how you can join group support or start seeing someone one-to-one locally.
If you would like to speak to someone more immediately about how you’re feeling, you can call the Helpline. We’re also happy to talk to you about what Cruse does if you have any questions about our services.
Everything you tell us is kept confidential. Unless you were to tell us anything that suggested that your or someone else was in danger.
We will always try to tell you first if we think we need to share your information with anyone else. We would only share your information with relevant authorities, like the emergency services.
There isn’t a minimum age on who can call the Helpline – we’re here for you no matter how old you are.