A Hertfordshire county councillor has allocated £669.81 from her budget to hold bereavement assemblies for young people in Harpenden.

The new funds will allow the St Albans and District Bereavement Network to hold a new pilot scheme of four assemblies in primary and secondary schools.

The assemblies are intended to help students address the feelings around loss or bereavement such as anxiety, sorrow, anger, loneliness and isolation, bewilderment, guilt, changes in appetite or loss of confidence.

Cllr Teresa Heritage said: “Losing a loved one is difficult for everyone but for a child or young person, loss is doubly hard. I hope that these pilot schemes will be the foundation for further work in Harpenden, helping young people to understand bereavement and the myriad of feelings and sadness around it.”

Jane Journet, director of the network, said: “We are in full support of improving children’s mental health and this is one way of getting to a large amount of children for a small amount of money.”

The money came from Cllr Heritage’s locality budget, a sum of £5,000 given to each of the 77 members of the county council to allocate to local projects.

For further information, and to apply for funds, visit beta.hertfordshire.gov.uk

For more information about the Network, visit www.sabn.org.uk