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Bereavement
Someone to talk to | Peer support | Personal stories | Funeral collection envelopes | Fighting against meningitis | Meet our researchers
Someone to talk to
Steve Dayman, Founder of Meningitis UK, sadly knows all too well the pain of losing someone to meningitis. Steve lost his baby son Spencer, when Spencer was only 14 months old. Since then, Steve has worked tirelessly for the meningitis cause, fundraising for research which will help stamp out the disease once and for all.
As well as raising funds for our Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign Steve spends a lot of his time travelling around the UK visiting bereaved families. Many families have told us how much of a comfort it is to be able to talk to a friendly and sympathetic person, who has been through a similar experience to them. Meningitis can kill in under 4 hours, and the speed at which a loved one is taken can be devastating.
If you would like Steve to visit you, please telephone the Meningitis UK office on 0117 947 6320 or email information@meningitisuk.org. You can also contact Steve directly on his mobile: 0790 341 2144.
During his visit Steve can talk to you about whatever your concerns are, including: the benefits of counselling, how meningitis attacks and how it is contracted, funeral arrangements and how to deal with the loss. Steve has worked for the meningitis cause for over 26 years now, and has a wealth of knowledge and experience for you to draw on.
Steve visited Nikki and Tony Busby after they lost their 10 month old son Kaydn to meningococcal septicaemia:
“I can not find the words to say, 'thank you' 'we find it comforting' 'you know our pain'. None of it seems right somehow. I will say though I think that you are one amazing man and I'm sure you feel very proud of what you are and have been doing”.
Nikki Busby
Personal stories
If you would like to read about other families' experiences, you can read their stories in their own words on our personal stories page.
Funeral collection envelopes
Arranging a funeral can be a very distressing experience. Some families find it helpful to feel that they are fighting back against the disease which took their loved one, by having collection envelopes at the funeral, into which mourners can place a donation to Meningitis UK. 
Meningitis UK has a single focus - to find a vaccine to protect against all forms of meningitis and associated diseases.
If you would like some funeral collection envelopes, please telephone us on 0117 947 6320 or email information@meningitisuk.org and we will send them to you.
Fighting against meningitis
As well as having collection envelopes at your funeral, you might like to set up a lasting tribute to remember your loved one. Many families find it very comforting and helpful to do something positive and for most people being actively involved in the meningitis cause has for a time filled the emptiness they feel.
Meningitis UK runs an online in memoriam service, called the Forever Funds. You can set up a Forever Fund online in tribute to your loved one and any money you and your friends and family raise for Meningitis UK will be in your loved one's name. Forever Funds allow you to upload photographs and write journal entries. They also offer you and visitors to your page the opportunity to light virtual candles in memory of your loved one, write in the Visitors' Book, make donations and set up secondary fund pages for any event or occasion, eg running a marathon or doing a parachute jump.
All money raised will be credited to the Forever Fund which you have set up. Your page gives you an overall running total of how much has been raised in memory of your loved one. Forever Funds have no closing dates, and so truly are a lasting tribute.
Further information about Forever Funds is available on our dedicated Forever Funds web page, but if you would like to speak to someone about them please telephone Jenny Heslegrave on 01453 769082 or send her an email.
Peer support
Our Founder Steve Dayman will visit families in the UK who need someone to talk to following a bereavement. People often find that it is also helpful to talk to other families who have lost someone to meningitis. If you feel that you would benefit from meeting a family in your area with similar experience, please let us us know and we will do our best to put you in touch with someone suitable. You can ask Steve about this on his visit, or you can contact the office on 0117 947 6320 and we will help you.
Lucie Dunbar who lost her daughter, Ella aged only 18 days old to meningitis, gave us some lovely feedback about a peer support meeting she had with Thaya Krishnakumar who lost her 10 day old son Harish:
"Thank you very much for putting me in touch with Thaya - we have just had a lovely lunch together exchanging stories and news"
Lucie Dunbar
Meet our researchers
Every year Meningitis UK holds a Friends' Open Day, where our supporters can come together, to meet each other and to meet our researchers who are working hard to eradicate meningitis completely. Our supporters tell us how valuable these days are to them, and how important it is to speak to our researchers. If you would like to know more about our Open Days please go to our dedicated information days page.
Remember your loved ones
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