Helping children cope with bereavement and separation

She is donating proceeds from her newly-published book, aimed at helping younger children verbalise and understand their feelings around separation and bereavement.

Becky, aged 37, a former military wife, is lending her support to the national charity which supports children who have lost a parent who served in the armed forces. The book The Time Train: A Minky Monkey Story! is an interactive colouring book aimed at helping younger children understand and talk about their feelings when faced with separation and bereavement from their loved ones.

Becky said: “I wrote the story for my children who unfortunately lost their grandad very suddenly, which also coincided with moving across the country with a new military draft.

“It was a very distressing time for the kids who at times did not know how to process their emotions. They were very close to their grandad, who fondly called them ‘minkies’ as opposed to monkeys, which inspired the title of the book.

“Very sadly, lots of children face bereavement and I was surprised to discover that very few of my mum friends had any advice on how to talk to them about their feelings, which inspired me to write the book and dedicate it to my father-in-law’s memory.

“I hope the book helps other children who are dealing with separation, anxiety, divorce or grief and the confusing and conflicting emotions young children often feel and can’t express.”

The book, published under Becky’s middle name Elizabeth, incorporates military separation, which was a part of her family’s life for many years while her husband Alastair served in the Royal Marines from 2001 to 2016. With each book sold, Becky will donate ten per cent of proceeds to Scotty’s Little Soldiers to help support children affected by the death of an armed forces parent.

Becky said: “Even though we’re outside the military now, there’s still a strong connection as it was a part of our lives for many years. I have always wanted to support Scotty’s in some way after I read the story of its founder Nikki Scott.

“Military wives can be so incredibly strong for their children, and she identified a need that was so desperately needed.

“After publishing the book, I knew I wanted to do something to help the charity and so reached out to Nikki and offered to donate ten per cent of my book proceeds to Scotty’s. We have a target of raising £1,000 for the charity which I really hope we can reach.”

Scotty’s Little Soldiers was founded by war widow Nikki Scott in 2010 after her husband, Corporal Lee Scott was killed in Afghanistan the previous year, leaving behind two young children.

“The charity does lots of things to support its members, including providing access to the very best health and wellbeing care, offering educational support and delivering outstanding development opportunities through a range of activity and educational grants.

“Scotty’s also helps put smiles back on those brave faces by providing respite breaks, posting the children birthday and Christmas presents and remembering the anniversary of their parent’s death, as well as arranging events where bereaved forces children from all over the UK come together to have a great time and form friendships with kids in the same situation.”

The charity has had to adapt to the current climate and has been using modern technology to arrange virtual events and activities to engage with its members, assuring them that in uncertain times such as these they are not alone.

Becky’s book is on Amazon.