Well now you are in with a chance, and can help support WAY at the same time!

Together with Unity Lotteries, we have launched the WAY Lottery and you can start playing right away.

Download an application form here

For just £1 a week you can be in with a chance of winning £25,000 and there are several other prizes too. If you are a WAY member you should have received an application form with your recent newsletter.

For every £1 you spend on the lottery, WAY receives 50p. The rest is divided between the prize fund and administration costs of running the lottery.

We would love you to get on board and help us raise money so we can offer more to our members – and help other young widowed men and women find out about us.

Please ask all your friends and family to join too – anyone can play!

Download your application form here!

Our editor Vicky Anning has done a fantastic job once again with a wide range of articles. This edition features an interview with one of our members in Oxford who shares her experience of WAY, two pieces by children of WAY members and two articles talking about what it’s like to go away with a bunch of strangers on a WAY weekend.

There is also the usual list of up and coming holidays and weekends being organised by WAY members.

So keep an eye out for your copy and let us know what you think of it.

If you work in the bereavement field and would like to see a copy to share with clients or pass on to someone who might find it useful, please get in touch at info@wayfoundation.org.uk.

Caroline’s route took her from Porthcawl, her home town, to Cardiff – to the hotel where she held the very first WAY meeting in January 1997.

In total she raised a £1,048 and we are very grateful for her continued support for WAY, which has helped thousands of young widowed men and women since that first meeting.

WAY has exclusive use of the hostel for the whole weekend and can transport you from Edinburgh if you are travelling by public transport.

This weekend is usually great fun – a chance for both adults and children to relax, get to know some other WAY members, and make new friends. Last year it was sunny too!

If you are not a WAY member but would like to know more, please contact us at the above email address. Please note, however, that only WAY members can attend the weekend.

There are many times when we don’t feel like going out and facing the world, which is why we spoke to HUSH – they sell gorgeous luxury pyjamas and loungewear which could make you feel quite special even if you’re not going to leave the sofa.

Our winner Sinead lives in London and was told of her prize on her birthday! Let’s hope she treats herself to something really special. Congratulations Sinead.

We ate far too much ice cream on the beach, suffered quite a bit of sunburn and cooked a thousand sausages on several barbecues on Saturday night. The big children had great fun catching up with their old WAY friends and the little children had a ball running around and swimming in the pool.

Debbie did a fantastic job organising the whole thing and I think everyone there would join in saying a big thank you to her for making it such a success.

WAY is now in talks with Hoburne parks, the company that runs the site we visited, to try and get favourable terms in Dorset and potentially elsewhere for more caravanning weekends. Watch this space…

She will bike from her home in Porthcawl to Cardiff, a marathon distance of 26 miles away, and finish at the hotel where the first WAY meeting was held.

You can sponsor her by visiting her Justgiving page.

“I have watched the Foundation grow steadily to become the respected charity that it is today.  I am deeply grateful to all volunteers who have worked so tirelessly over the years to ensure WAY’s continuity,” says Caroline.

“Having taken much more of a back seat in recent years, I have nevertheless kept in touch regularly and have always raised money whenever I’ve had the opportunity, mostly by selling salt dough creations, lovingly crafted by myself and my daughters.  This year, I have decided to embark on something a little more strenuous.”

WAY has come a long way since that first meeting and now has around 65 active groups, from northern Scotland to Devon and Cornwall with some 1,600 young men and women benefitting from the support it offers.

“I hope that WAY continues to offer you the invaluable support that was so sadly lacking for my mum when my dad died and for my sister, when Charlie died,” says our founder.

We wish her the best of luck for her cycle ride and for her fundraising!

Please give Caroline your support here.

A petition to ask the government to alter the way in which Widowed Parent’s Allowance is assessed, and to bring it in line with child maintenance, has now closed.

The petition received 508 signatures by June 6, 2010 when it closed.  You can read the full petition and see the most recent signatures here.

Once an online petition has closed it is passed to officials who work for the prime minister in Downing Street, or is sent to the relevant government department for a response.

Every person who signs such a petition will receive an email detailing the government’s response to the issues raised.

We will publish the government’s response on the WAY website, so if you didn’t manage to sign the petition you can still find out what was decided.

We’ll be letting people know about successful WAY events all over the country, fundraising news and shouting out when we’re in the media.

We also hope Twitter will help raise the profile of WAY among other professional and charitable organisations that work with bereaved people.

Find us on Twitter now.

The beautiful pictures of Gemma Richardson, Sarah Wilkinson and Johanna Horne illustrate their heart-rending stories which were told with startling honesty.

But they also tell of how they made friends through WAY and the invaluable support the organisation has given them.

You can read the story and see how fabulous they all look here!

Thank you to Gemma, Sarah and Johanna for being brave enough to share their stories.