JCIP #187 - Alfie Fitzsimmons

In episode 187 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Alfie Fitzsimmons. Alfie is the Founder of Alfie's Squad, which is is a non-profit organisation working to help children bereaved by parental suicide.Alfie started this charity because when he was eight years old, in May 2017, Alfie tragically lost his father Keith to suicide.Initially, his mother Allison was worried about telling Alfie the truth and told Alfie his dad had had a heart attack. However, even at that age, Alfie knew something wasn’t right and realised that his dad had taken his own life. After getting some advice from children’s charity Winston’s Wish, the day after, Allison then disclosed to Alfie in an age-appropriate way that Alfie’s dad had taken his own life. Remarkably, despite him losing his father and his main male role-model in his life, in the depths of that grief, Alfie wanted to help other young boys and girls not go through what he went through.So, Alfie started Alfie’s Squad and since then, it has grown and become a support organisation for people in the Merseyside area and hopefully beyond it in the future.In this episode, we discuss the impact that losing his dad had on him, how he processed the grief and why he was initially frustrated by the reaction of the children around him to his grief. We discuss how his mum helped him navigate the grief and channel it through outlets like the charity and playing football with his friends. We finish by talking about the charity, the success its had and what he wants to achieve with it going forward.As always, #itsokaytoventFind out more about Alfie's Squad here: https://alfiessquad.org/Follow them on social media below: Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlfiesSquadSupport Us:Patreon: www.patreon.com/venthelpukGoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-vent-supp…ir-mental-healthMerchandise: www.redbubble.com/people/VentUK/shopMusic: @patawawa - Strange: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70wfeJSEvkSupport Us:PatreonPayPalMerchandise