On behalf of the JB and Me Charity.
On Friday 8th March 2019, the unthinkable happened. Two-year-old James Russell passed away in his sleep. Characterised as a bright, happy and funny little boy, his family were understandably devastated.
Through their grief, they found an inspirational way to honour James’s memory.
James was a central part of a large extended family, in the days and months that followed it became apparent that there was not a lot of bereavement help available for Children of the wider family, i.e. cousins and young aunts and uncles.
So the idea of JB and Me was born: a charitable trust that will help those most in need in the darkest days after losing a child within a family.
The aim is to target these families and offer support and help where needed, in the Dartford area.
The primary aim is to be able to offer caregivers of children the opportunity to gain The Emergency First Aid for Children Certification, many parents, grandparents etc. are not aware of how to react in an emergency. The charity wants to be able to fund a recognised outside organisation to run these courses for those that would like the qualification.
In addition, the family would like to get grief counsellors into smaller capacity schools, as they have seen the difference it makes to a child when help is offered. Smaller schools have lower budgets so have to make decisions where money is spent and usually something that benefits only one or two children will be overlooked for something that benefits the whole school.
Finally, there is a desire to bring JB (James Bear) to life. JB is a Bereavement Bear, a little bear to help children through the darkest nights and days of bereavement ahead. He is a friend to tell their worries and fears to. JB will have a colour-changing heart that works with heat, so that when a child places their hand over JB’s heart it will change colour, thereby giving the child the impression that JB has listened and heard.
We found that a little bear helped our children massively, they felt that they had a part of James still with them and included the bears in every part of their day.
In order to do this, we need to fundraise to cover our first event, we are holding a family fun day in Dartford, Kent on the 7th March 2020, this is the anniversary of the last day we had with James. We are hosting a static character car display, arts and crafts, mascots, face painting etc, but for this to go ahead we need your help. The location is Wilmington Grammar School.
Please visit for more information.
Thank you for taking the time in reading our story and a heartfelt thank you if you donate.