Grief Chat: Making Space for Men to Grieve

Our informal Grief Chats bring together two people to talk about their personal experiences of grief. In this Chat, we talk to Liam and Callum, two men keen to discuss the challenges faced by men who need to grieve.

Callum Flannigan joined Let’s Talk About Loss in 2020, after his mother died from cancer in 2013 and his grandmother passed away in 2015. He became a Host for the Glasgow group in April 2020, and is passionate about encouraging more young men to join and talk openly about their experience of grief.

Callum believes the key to eliminating the stigma is the process of normalising grief for men and being able to discuss the issue without fear of shame or emasculation.

Liam Butcher joined Let’s Talk About Loss in April 2019, after losing his best friend Matt in September 2017 following a six-year battle with cancer when he was only 25 years old. He became a Host for the London group when he joined Let’s Talk About Loss last year.

Through sharing his experience, Liam has become passionate about encouraging more young men to seek support and talk openly about their experience of grief. Liam believes that there is still stigma attached to male grief and they worry that they will be judged for showing emotion, or often wrongly perceive grief as a sign of weakness.