A Brief History

How Cruse started
We are frequently asked "How did Cruse begin and why was there a need for your service?"

Cruse Bereavement Care 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 Bereavement Care is today the largest Bereavement Counselling Charity in the world.

Cruse Bereavement Care 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. Cruse Bereavement Care Birmingham started in 1977.


What name should be used for this new group?
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.

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).

How the Cruse Organisation Developed
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 Bereavement Care 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.

The Cruse service was extended to widowers in 1980, officially providing a service which many branches had already begun.

Extending the Service to All Bereaved People
In 1986 a decision was taken at the AGM formally to extend the Cruse Bereavement Care Service to all bereaved people. In 1987 the title was officially changed from Cruse Bereavement Care, the National Organisation for the Widowed and their Children, to Cruse Bereavement Care. The current Executive Director, Anne Viney, continues to oversee the growth of Cruse Bereavement Care which now stands at 178 branches throughout Britain.

How Cruse Operates today

Cruse Bereavement Care offers, totally free, a confidential counselling service and support to ALL who are bereaved by death. The service is delivered by trained unpaid volunteers. Cruse Bereavement Care is the largest organisation of its kind in the world. It has 178 branches throughout the UK. The organisation has a volunteer workforce of over 6,400, of whom over 4,400 are trained bereavement counsellors.

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 a normal grieving process.

Many thousands of bereaved people receive face to face counselling free of charge and the opportunity for social support through Cruse Bereavement Care branches.

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. Publications 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, school staff and many other professionals.

Cruse Bereavement Care 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 organisations and work with Government departments on health and social issues which relate to bereaved people.

Cruse Bereavement Care is a national charity dependent on voluntary contributions. So that we can continue offering a totally free counselling service to those who suffer the heartache and loss that bereavement brings, we need your help.

How Can we Help?