Well respected grief counsellor and author Dr Bill Webster was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) “for services to the bereaved in the UK and in Canada” in the 2024 New Year’s Honours List.

“I was completely flabbergasted by this recognition, and feel both honoured and humbled to have had my work recognized in this way,” he said.

“But the biggest reward will always be in knowing that I have helped so many people through their grief journey.”

Dr Webster has conducted many professional and educational seminars on the topics of grief and loss over the last 25 years, and his books have been widely distributed around the country.

A member of the Association for Death Education and Grief Counselling, he has been awarded their prestigious Fellow in Thanatology in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the field of grief counselling.

He was also awarded the British Citizen’s Medal some years ago in recognition of his work in helping communities organize and facilitate local community grief support programmes in the UK.

Dr Webster continues to pioneer new and innovative grief support programmes. In partnership with Malcolm Flanders and Karen Trickett, he is now part of a new initiative called When Life Changes that will make grief support more easily available and accessible to grieving people in a variety of situations as well as to communities.

The new website www.whenlifechanges.com will be up and running very soon.

Bill plans to be at the National Funeral Exhibition in Stoneleigh in June and looks forward to meeting many friends, old and new, at that time.

PHOTO: Dr Bill Webster – Peter Frankland, Guernsey Press