Hope & Help for grieving families

Ladybird Care Foundation provides bereavement care that supports and empowers grieving families to find hope and purpose once again, creating pathways for healing.

We are here for you.

The Ladybird Care Foundation is a charity which exists to ensure that every bereaved parent or family member who wants, and needs, care from a mentor with lived experience, receives it.

No one should have to walk this journey alone.

Peer Mentoring

The Ladybird Care Foundation Peer Mentor Program evolved in response to a call from bereaved parents, seeking to meet a peer with a lived experience. Our highly qualified bereavement care professionals actively recruit, train and supervise volunteer peer mentors, with lived experience, to become the human connection of support.

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PROFESSIONAL TESTIMONIAL

"I am humbled to sit with bereaved parents' and to witness their pain and suffering following the death of a child.
Parent's will often feel isolated and alone in their grief, left to navigate the often treacherous terrain of child loss.
It is such a powerful thing to offer a bereaved parent the opportunity to connect with a Peer Mentor, who has lived experience of child loss.
To share with newly bereaved parents that there are other parents out there who have experienced child loss, and have learnt how to carry their grief in a way that is somewhat manageable is like offering a breath of fresh air.
To be able to offer this unique and important layer of support in a family's bereavement care is invaluable.
It is a pleasure to partner with Ladybird Care Foundation and to have this program to refer into."

– Amy Larsen, Specialist Grief Counsellor, Brisbane Grief Counselling, Grief Australia (August 2024)

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Ladybird Care Foundation was established in honour of one of the founding member's children, Emma Louise Pascoe, who tragically passed away at the age of 18.

Passionate about improving bereavement care for families following the death of a child, Emma's Dad, Wayne, and four colleagues set about establishing a new charity.

And so, Ladybird Care Foundation began with the vision of these five, community-minded men driving its inception, research and eventual launch on October 31st, 2020.

"A wife who loses a husband is called a widow. A husband who loses a wife is called a widower. A child who loses his parents is called an orphan. There is no word for a parent who loses a child. That’s how awful the loss is."
- Jay Neugeboren, An Orphan's Tale

Statement of Commitment

We are committed to respecting and honouring the cultural practices, rituals, and beliefs of all people throughout their grieving process.

We acknowledge that grief and loss are universal experiences that transcend cultural boundaries, and we strive to provide appropriate support and guidance to individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Through our collective wisdom and experience, let us foster a future where bereaved families find solace, support, healing, and connection.

Acknowledgement of Country

We wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands in this nation where we live, work, and serve, for their stewardship and ongoing connection to country.

We hope for a reconciled future between all peoples of this great nation.