Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have questions about Lionheart or our programs? Have a look at our Frequently Asked Questions to see if there is an answer for your question. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions - we'd love to hear from you
Lionheart has a range of programs and support to suit all ages. Our family camps and programs are for children aged 5-17, along with a supportive adult in their life. Participants in Raw to Roar: Lionheart’s Grief Pathway can be 0-17, with support available to their parent/caregiver, and activities for them to engage with at our peer catchups.
We also offer a webinar following each New Families Camp for extended family members (i.e. grandparents, aunties, uncles) and other supportive people in the family’s network.
You can learn more about our programs here.
Lionheart’s programs are currently free of charge for all families, thanks to the generous funding through grants, major donors, fundraising events and community giving.
Find out more about ways to give here.
Your child/ren must be between 5-17 years of age, and it must also be at least six months after the death of your Important Person. Our Family Liaison Officer will talk with you over the phone to discuss your family’s current situation and readiness for a group setting, and will also provide helpful information for you if a Lionheart camp is not the right fit your family.
Once offered a place, we ask that you and your child/ren participate in our pre- and post-evaluation surveys, as this helps us to evaluate the effectiveness of our programs and improve them for families who will attend in the future.
We ask that once your family is offered a place in camp, you commit to attend the full camp or program.
Lionheart offers several programs to support grieving families in Western Australia. Raw to Roar: Lionheart’s Grief Pathway provides 1:1 Grief Coaching in the early days to families from time of death or earlier in the circumstances of terminal illness, right through the first 24 months of your grief journey.
New Families Camps (day-camps) are our foundation program for families engaging in our camps. Once families have attended a New Families Camp, they are welcome to join our other programs as suits them, including our Returning Families Camps, DRUMBEAT and Lionheart Lounge.
You can find out more information about our programs here.
There are many ways you can support Lionheart. Our programs are funded by generous grants, major donors, fundraising events and community giving. If you would like to partner with us, donate or fundraise, please get in touch!
Our camps, programs and fundraising events are supported by our team of excellent volunteers. If you are interested in joining our team to volunteer, we’d love to hear from you!
Find out more about ways to support Lionheart here.
Families can self-refer and do not need a referral to access support from Lionheart, however we do find that it can ease the cognitive load if a third-party completes an enquiry form on their behalf. If you have the family’s consent to share their contact details, please feel free to submit a form on their behalf.
You can refer a family to Raw to Roar: Lionheart’s Grief Pathway here.
You can refer a family to our New Families Camp here.
Our New Families Camps are our foundational program that all families attend first prior to our other programs. New Families Camps are two days (not overnight) and occur on a weekend. The camp offers three separate programs at the same location (primary aged program for children aged 5-12, our adolescents program for young people aged 13-17, and our adults program). Each family member will spend most of the day in their respective aged group, and then will come back together for a family activity at the end of the day.
In each of the programs, activities and conversations are led by our team of facilitators, who are all qualified psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists or teachers. Our facilitators are supported by an excellent team of caring and compassionate volunteers.
Upon arrival, families can expect to come into the primary aged room, be greeted by one of the team, and be shown to our (giant!) craft table to work on a creation. From there, everyone will be welcomed together and then the separate programs will commence. At times, some participants, especially younger children, can find it tricky to separate from the rest of their family. This is completely understandable and not at all uncommon. If that happens for your child, our skilled team will support your child with strategies that you suggest (our Family Liaison Officer will discuss with you prior to camp), can offer some time with our therapy dog Taylor (and Taylor’s occupational therapist human, Nat from Think Kind), and they will be supported to join in with the group activities when they are ready.
Throughout the camp, all participants will have the opportunity to engage in conversations, movement activities, craft/building activities and family activities. For our children and young people, this is all offered across the day with plenty of brain breaks and play.
A facilitator will visit the adults group in the middle of the day on each day, providing an overall update on how each of the children are doing in their programs, and providing a summary of the content that they will be covering.
Following camp, all families will receive an email with a request for feedback, and offered an opportunity to register for future programs.
Once your family has attended a New Families Camp, you are welcome to join any of our programs and camps! We also have several events throughout the year that you will get information about via email.
Click the links below to find out more about these programs:
Yes. We ask that children attend camp with their parent or caregiver, or another supportive adult in their life. We offer a unique program that encompasses the whole family – we will teach each family member new skills, and a shared language around understanding grief. Our adult program provides a space where grieving adults can connect with other grieving adults, whilst also learning about how to navigate their own grief as they also parent a grieving child.
Thank you for your enquiry! Our team work really hard to respond to enquiries as quickly as possible. You should hear back within one week, and if you haven’t please feel free to contact us again to follow up.
Yes, we absolutely can! We are excited to be able to provide Professional Development sessions to school staff, health professionals and community organisations.
If you would like to find out more, please get in touch by sending us an enquiry here.
Our programs are for children (and their families) who have experienced the death of a parent, primary caregiver or sibling. We know that every circumstance and relationship is unique, so please contact us to see if we still might be the right fit or can assist in another way.
Immediately following the death of a loved one is an extremely overwhelming time, usually with lots of ‘admin’ that is required sorting out affairs. We know that in the early days of a bereavement, brain fog is a very real thing, and it can be very tricky to take on new information. As our family camps are group settings, it is often too difficult to share your story (and hear others’ stories of grief) early on.
So, whilst we ask for families to wait until at least six months after the death of their family member, some families come a New Families Camp 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10+ years down the track. There is no right or wrong timeline!
If your family needs bereavement support early on in your grief journey (i.e. if your loved one has died within the last six months) our Raw to Roar program can help. Click here to find out more.
Once you’re in Raw to Roar, you can engage as much or as little as you’d like – whatever fits best for your family. This includes engaging with our peer/group catch ups, which are informal gatherings, hosted by our Grief Coaches.
For our family grief camps, all families can attend a New Families Camp once, and then our other programs as many times as you’d like. We find that families often touch base with us around transition period in their life, such as children moving from primary to high school, new developmental leaps, another bereavement in the family.
Jump onto our programs page here to find out when we have a program that suits your family.