History
of CruseHistory
of CruseCruse was founded in 1959 by Margaret Torrie, a social worker and wife of leading consultant psychiatrist, Dr. Alfred Torrie. Realising that there was very little support for widows, she placed an advert in a local paper offering to form a group for young widows. An immediate response from 26 widows made her realise how right she was to form this group. From, in her own words, "initial suspicion and hesitation on the part of those who came", Cruse is today the largest Bereavement Counselling Charity in the world.
Cruse was officially founded on 5th October 1959 and for 16 years was run from Mrs. Torrie's home, The Charter House, Lion Gate Gardens, Richmond.
What name should be
used for this new group? After some thought, the idea of "Cruse" was adopted from the story
in the Old Testament about a widow who shared her last jar of oil (a cruse is an
earthenware vessel for holding oil) with a stranger, and by sharing found she
always had more. The stranger was the Hebrew prophet, Elijah (1 Kings, Ch 17).
It was felt at the time that
no widow wanted attention drawn to her personal situation, although she
desperately wanted support and encouragement. There was a strong feeling against
using the word "widow", meaning empty (from the French word
"vide"). The idea behind the work of the organisation was to be
positive and outward looking - a beginning again.
How the Cruse
Organisation Developed The Cruse service was extended to widowers in 1980, officially providing a
service which many branches had already begun.
Margaret Torrie expanded her
work over the years, opening new Branches in areas where local committees could
be formed to back up initiatives. In 1974 Cruse received its first government
grant, a recognition of the value of its work in the community and in the field
of preventive medicine. In 1976 Mrs. Torrie retired and was awarded an MBE.
Derek Nuttall was appointed Director that year and continued opening new
branches forming a network throughout Britain.
Extending the Service
to All Bereaved People
In 1986 a decision was taken
at the AGM formally to extend the Cruse Service to all bereaved people. In 1987
the title was officially changed from Cruse, the National Organisation for the
Widowed and their Children, to Cruse Bereavement Care. The current Executive
Director, Dr. Carole Easton, who was appointed in March 1998, continues to
oversee the growth of Cruse which now stands at almost 200 branches throughout
Britain.
How Cruse Operates in
the year 2000 Cruse Bereavement Care
is the largest organisation of its kind in the world Cruse Bereavement Care continues to exist because there is a constant need
for information on death and bereavement; a need for someone to listen when the
grieving person needs to talk; a need for a safe place where feelings can be
expressed; a need for assurance that what is going on is all part of grieving.
Many thousands of bereaved people receive face to face counselling free of
charge and the opportunity for social support through Cruse Bereavement Care
branches.
People can telephone or write to the Welfare Advisor for information and
advice on practical issues relating to bereavement.
More than 100 books, booklets and pamphlets specifically for the bereaved and
those who help them are available from the Cruse Bereavement Care mail order
service. Publiciations for bereaved people include books about grief and
recovery from loss, poetry books, practical information fact sheets, and fiction
for children and adolescents. Resources for professionals are also available,
including training manuals.
Cruse Bereavement Care offers external training for those whose work brings
them into contact with the bereaved such as, nurses, doctors, clergy, welfare
and personnel staff, funeral directors, life assurance representatives and many
other professionals.
Cruse also provides national and local training courses for bereavement
counsellors and individually arranged training programmes for firms and
organisations.
We also have close links with other bereavement groups, statutory and
voluntary organistions and work with Government departments on health and social
issues which relate to bereaved people.
Cruse offers, totally free
and without charge, a confidential counselling service and support to ALL who
are bereaved by death. The service is delivered by trained, unpaid, volunteers.
It has almost 200 branches throughout the UK. The organisation has a volunteer
workforce of over 6,400, of whom over 4,400 are trained bereavement counsellors,
and last year it responded to almost 100,000 enquiries.