Resources for support professionals and carers

Support during the Covid-19 pandemic
If you are caring for someone who has been bereaved by a road death during the pandemic, it is important to know how to help them as best you can, and how to look after your own well-being too. Being bereaved during this pandemic will be challenging. Government restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus (such as social distancing and self-isolation) mean that many people cannot spend time with their loved one’s body after their death, nor hold a normal memorial gathering.

Faced with this particularly challenging type of bereavement, people may experience a range of difficult feelings and symptoms.

Our online support resources are still available to bereaved families. You may also find it useful to read some of the information on our Sudden website (supporting those bereaved by sudden death) that relates to bereavement during, and by, Covid-19:

• Advice if you are caring for someone bereaved during the Covid-19 pandemic
• Advice for people who have been bereaved during the Covid-19 pandemic
• Advice on memorialising when a funeral or other gathering cannot be held

Support books for bereaved adults and children
Brake offers two support books for people bereaved in crashes. For adults there is the booklet Coping with Grief, and for children the picture book Someone has died in a road crash. Find out more about these resources. These publications are available to support professionals for a small charge. Copies ordered on behalf of a bereaved family are free of charge. To order copies, simply email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call +64 (0)21 407 953.

Sudden
Sudden is a global initiative by Brake that provides advice to people bereaved by a sudden death, and shares best practice, research and resources among professionals and carers who work with suddenly bereaved people. Find out more on the Sudden website.

Help us to help bereaved and injured families more
Brake has only recently been set up in New Zealand. It is part of the charity Brake that has been providing support services to road crash victims in the UK for 25 years, including an acclaimed helpline offering emotional support and detailed information on procedures that follow a road crash. Can you help us to provide other services for road crash victims in New Zealand? Visit our fundraising pages for more information and ideas.

Feedback on our resources
If you have used either our Coping with Grief booklet or children's book, please give us feedback on what you thought of them. Your feedback helps us to ensure that the books contain information that is relevant and useful, and helps us to secure funding to keep the books free of charge to road crash victims. You can give feedback online, or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..