Huw Thomas

On tonight's Wales at Six you did an item on people who are unable to grieve properly after a loved one has died due to the Covid-19 situation. The item was very good and very factual, I know that because on June 1st this year I lost my beautiful wife Cynthia (it was our 24th wedding anniversary). I was, and still am devastated and as I live alone I sit here day after day surrounded in memories and feeling so low!! I'm lucky that I have a step-daughter living fairly close and we talk on-line on a daily basis. The reason for this message is that at the end of your item you made the statement "if you have been affected by this item you can access free on-line counselling..." and you gave the WebSite address & Tel.Number for Cruse. That statement and information is very misleading and I assume that no ITV News researchers have checked out the information before you broadcast it, because although the information is factually correct it is practically impossible to make contact and when you eventually do they simply tell you that due to a combination of Covid-19, shortage of Counsellors, being unable to do face-to-face sessions as they would normally and a very long waiting list they will put your name on the list and contact you when they can. As I said my wife died on 1st June (21 weeks ago) and I am still waiting for them to contact me. I have sent a few reminders on some of my worse days when I feel really low but I get the same response. This is a copy of my last response which was 12 weeks ago - " Sorry about the delay in response and thank you for contacting Cruse Bereavement Care You are on the waiting list to recieve telephone support. As soon as a trained bereavement volunteer becomes available they will be in touch with yourself." - I have now found a very good local Bereavement Counsellor and the reason for this communication is not to have a go at Cruse because I totally understand their current situation, my gripe is with the many programmes like soap operas etc.. and News Channels like yours that continually give out information that makes it sound like all you have to do is make a phone call and you will receive immediate help, and that certainly is not the case, so you should add a bit to your information statements at the end of these items warning people that there may be a long delay when you do contact Cruse etc.. due to the current situation which would avoid grieving people suffering further trauma etc..