Delivering life-changing coaching through the seasons of grief

Creating a safe space to strengthen emotional wellbeing in the wake of loss.

Seasons of Growth Wairarapa Companions, Alison Dye and Donna Laing.

For anyone, no matter their age or circumstances, grief and the emotions that come with it can be immensely difficult to navigate. Like the seasons, the grief experience is ever-changing and can be a struggle to work through without adequate support.

Creating a welcoming environment

Run in partnership with local schools and social service agencies, Seasons of Growth Wairarapa offers a safe space for children, adolescents and adults to chat through and navigate significant life changes with the support of their peers and trained facilitators, known as 'companions'.

Wairarapa Coordinator, Alison Dye says, "from the outset, Seasons for Growth aims to create a welcoming environment to make talking about loss as comfortable as possible. Opening up can be a challenge for a lot of people so we put an emphasis on building up a foundation of trust."

The Founder of the Programme that inspired Seasons for Growth; recently canonised non, Mary MacKillop “believed that you shouldn’t see a need without doing something about it. In our case, we have seen the impact grief has on people through our own personal experience and felt compelled to guide them through the various stages,” says Alison.

Tailored peer support

Although every session is tailored to ensure an individual's needs are met, even within a group setting, there are several messages which underscore the wider programme format. "We try to communicate that feeling grief is normal; that the individual is normal, but the situation they are going through is difficult. As the seasons do, these feelings will ebb and flow," says Alison.  

Since starting to work with Seasons of Growth Wairarapa in 2012, Alison's role has evolved. While she still works as a peer support companion, she also works in a training capacity, developing a blueprint for the programme to be adopted in schools, women's centres and social service agencies. It is with this blueprint that Alison hopes that more people, young and old, can benefit from the programme as it grows.  

Valuable Support

Nikau Foundation is delighted to be playing a part in the continuing operations of Seasons of Growth, issuing a grant for $3000 during our 2021 grants round.

For Alison, the impact of such a grant is immeasurable. "It's simple really. Grants like this make our work possible. There is no way we would be able to deliver such life-changing services without in a way that makes it affordable for all of the people who want to participate without financial support from funders such as Nikau Foundation," says Alison.