Community forum

Once you are registered, you can log straight into the online Forum at: www.tcf.org.uk/forum 

The Compassionate Friends Forum is a safe, private place where bereaved parents can ‘talk’ online with other parents who have lost a child of any age (from one month old to an adult son or daughter), from any cause. We can express our feelings and receive responses and support from others who have similar experiences. Over time, as you develop greater understanding and resilience around your own grief, you may feel more able to support other parents with their grief experiences.

The Forum is only open to bereaved parents so you can be certain that no-one in the ‘wider world’ will see what you write. We do suggest that you wait until you are at least a week or more bereaved before joining the TCF Forum as we know from experience that our peer support is most beneficial after our child's funeral and when family and friends are perhaps not so much around for support.

Please do not feel daunted because everyone else on the Forum already knows each other- everyone who joins can be assured of a warm welcome by people who understand.  Even if you don’t want to post anything, we welcome you to spend as long as you like just reading what other Forum members post - hopefully that way you will gain support from seeing you are not alone. 

Our Forum admin team - Diane, Trisha and Margaret -  are available to give you a helping hand if you have any issues or difficulties joining, posting or commenting.

What people say about the Forum

“I don’t know what I’d do without The Compassionate Friends forum. For the first year I couldn’t face contact with anyone and the only way I could express how I felt was through this lifeline. I’m sure that my ability to re-enter the world, in very small steps recently, is due to the support I’ve found on the forum.” Karyn

"I am relatively new to The Compassionate Friends forum, but I am so glad I found you. This forum is my lifeline at the moment as my grief is so raw, but the wonderful people here have helped me tremendously." Natalie

"This Forum has been a lifeline to me and had I not joined I think I would have given up by now or probably been sectioned, locked up and they would have thrown the key away by now. Nobody judges you and you can rant and rave, cry and scream, jump up and down and all you get is love, support and understanding.” Nazleen

“I don't know how I would have got through the past 20 months without the daily support I have had from people on the forum. It has been a lifeline to me during my darkest hours, and I have made real friends amongst the people there.” Anne

"The TCF forum has been a massive support to me on my grief journey. Just to know that there are other people out there who are going through the same thing and have similar feelings is a great comfort. And hearing from those further down the line that it is possible to function again one day gave me hope." Sue

How to register for the Forum

In order to keep the Forum totally private and safe from spammers etc we need you to register.

• Go to www.tcf.org.uk/forum/
• Click on ‘Register’ in the top left hand corner under the TCF logo
• Click on a choice of dates to determine that you are over eighteen years old
• Tick that you agree to abide by the Terms of Agreement
• Fill in the ‘Registration Form’ – and click ‘Submit’

This will send your request to the Admin team who will carry out some basic checks which ensure that we stay private and safe. The admin team may need to contact you for more information before they can authorise your membership. Your membership will usually be approved within a few hours. You will then get an email to let you know that you are an active Online Forum member and you can begin reading other members' posts or introduce yourself and your child to other members.

Once you are registered, you can log straight into the online Forum at: www.tcf.org.uk/forum

If you are a bereaved sibling or bereaved grandparent please contact our Helpline at helpline@tcf.org.uk or 0345 123 2304 for more information about support available to you.