A POLITICS student from Warrington took his calls for a national register of bereaved children to the Government this week – with the help of MP Andy Carter.
Dan Walsh sadly lost his father when he was just 12-years-old and found it difficult to access the support he needed to cope during that period of his life.
The Priestley College student has since called for better ways to help grieving children and his cause has been taken up by Mr Carter who raised the matter at Westminster Hall.
“As a Politics student, but mainly as someone who lost their dad so young, it was an incredible moment to hear my experience shared with the Government so I have to thank Andy for his support,” said Dan, who is 17.
Priestley invited Warrington South MP into college to meet Dan and discuss his experiences following the death of his father who suffered a brain aneurysm.
Dan told the MP a “national register of bereaved children” would help organisations and charities connect with young people who are grieving – rather than the child having to look for the support themselves during a difficult time.
Andy not only agreed to raise the matter at Westminster, he also invited Dan to help prepare the speech he delivered.
Priestley College and Andy Carter then organised for Dan to travel to London to hear the speech in person and meet MP David Johnston, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education, who was delivering the Government’s response.
In that response, Mr Johnston said: “Dan spoke movingly about his experience, and he should be proud of the way that he has sought to bring what has been a very sad experience for him to this place to help other young people experiencing grief.”
The Minister outlined what has been done to help bereaved children and said he had spoken to officials about adding a question to the school census to record those who have lost a parent.
