FAQs

WAY membership is open to anyone who has lost their partner before the age of 51 - married or not, with or without children, inclusive of sexual orientation, gender, race and religion.

We welcome anyone who has suffered the loss of a partner, regardless of circumstance, religion, race, sexual orientation, location within the UK, occupation, or state of health. This means that whether you were married, engaged, living together, boyfriend & girlfriend, in a same sex relationship, separated, or even divorced, you are eligible to become a member. We only stipulate that people must be 50 or under when they lost their partner in order to be eligible to join WAY – and you can join at any age if you fit this criteria.

Unfortunately you are unable to join WAY at this time, but there is some useful information on our website here which may support you.  Please drop us an email at enquiries@widowedandyoung.org.uk if you would like some more assistance.

The stereotype of a “widow” or “widower” is someone in their seventies or eighties. However, the sad reality is that more than 100,000 men and women in the UK are widowed under the age of 50.

Losing someone you love is difficult at any age. And if your partner dies young, the loss can be difficult to cope with in many different ways. Not only do you have the pain of bereavement to cope with, but also you have been robbed of a future you were planning to share together. And you are most probably facing a huge array of practical challenges too – from raising children alone to simply paying the household bills.

Drawing on the experiences gathered from WAY members over the past 20+ years, we have compiled some practical tips to help young widows and widowers navigate the first few weeks, months and years after their partner has died. Whether you’ve been widowed yourself, or whether you’re supporting someone who’s been widowed at a young age, we hope you’ll find it useful.

WAY has local groups throughout England, Scotland, Northern Ireland,   Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands . However, as members come and go some areas may be more active than others. If you become a member you will be allocated a group based on your postcode, but may find that another group nearby is more active and organises events you are interested in and that are within travelling distance for you. All members have access to an online ‘Members Only’ area where they can discuss topics and arrange events with anyone else throughout the country.

Membership of WAY is £30 per year. We rely on donations to continue our work, so any extra you feel able to give is very much appreciated, and of course you can also help by signing up to Gift Aid if you are eligible too.

We are well aware that, as a result of bereavement and its consequences, many people can struggle financially.

The WAY Memorial Fund has been established to support our members who may need help to enjoy the benefits of membership. Currently there are funds available to assist members in both the payment of their annual membership fees and to attend WAY-organised events in the UK.

If you, or a member you know, would like to apply for assistance please apply here.

All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

WAY receives no government or lottery funding to pay for the running of the charity. The actual cost of each annual membership is £60, however we only request a £30 subscription fee and rely on donations and fundraising activities to make up the shortfall.  We believe that cost should never be a barrier to accessing support and so in circumstances of financial hardship members we operate a fund that members can access to cover their subscription for that year. 

We also feel that payment of a nominal sum means that members value the group and will deter people who may be ruthless enough to try and gain membership under false pretences.

Upon joining you will receive a welcome booklet and a verification code in the post, enabling you to register for WAY’s online services. The online ‘Members Only’ area allows all members up and down the country to connect with each other, share stories and ask questions. You can ask for advice within the Members Hub either the various group activity feeds or direct messaging. You can search for "in-person" and "online" member led events that you would like to attend and create your own events too. You will have access to telephone support services which include a counselling service, and a legal and financial advice line. 

During the year, you will receive three WAY magazines, as well as an E-newsletter each month. And you will have the opportunity to attend our WAY organised events - the AGM,  WAY weekend breaks (we cater for adults only and ones where children are welcome) and our annual Big Picnic - as well as meeting members and making friends at other local and national events throughout the year.

Yes, joining online is quick and easy. Find out more about joining WAY here.

Payment online is facilitated by Paypal, however you do not need a Paypal account to pay this way, any debit or credit card can be used. Simply scroll down to the bottom of the Paypal ‘log in’ page and click ‘pay with credit/debit card’ or 'checkout as guest' instead.

WAY membership is available to all those eligible to join living in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, including the Isle of Man and the Channel Isles. Join WAY

Whilst the provision of death and marriage certificates would provide evidence to confirm some applicants are widowed, this would exclude those that were not married to their partner and may not have access to this kind of documentation. It would also exclude those who may not yet have had a death certificate, for example where there is an inquest or a partner who has been lost at sea.

We therefore rely on our  registration process which checks that validity of applicants address and the membership fee, to deter anyone who may try to join under false pretences. We have a strict set of policies that enable members to report suspicious behaviour (including a members policy, safeguarding policy, bullying and harassment policy and a complaints policy) plus 190 UK-wide volunteers who live locally in areas that would be able to recognise anyone posing as a widow

If anyone found to be a non-widowed member, are immediately removed from the website and their membership is revoked without any refund.

Our constitution limits us from enabling those aged 51 or over at the time of their bereavement from joining WAY. You are still able to join, and remain a WAY member, past your 51st birthday if you were bereaved before then.

If you are age 51 or over at the point of your bereavement, we strongly encourage you to join WAY Up, a lively group of widowed men and women that is flourishing across the UK. 

No, you can stay a member for as long as you want. We have people who have been members for more than 10 years who still actively involve themselves in the group, both giving and receiving ongoing support. The age restriction applies to your age when your partner died, so you can join and remain a member at any age, as long as you meet this criteria. We do have a sister group, called WAYUp, for those widowed just past our age restriction and for some members who feel an older age group is more appropriate for their present circumstances.

You will be contacted soon after joining either by your local area contact, or by another volunteer, if your area doesn’t have a coordinator at present. Your first meeting will usually be a smaller, more informal event such as a coffee, quiet pub drink or evening meal. All people present in the group will be members, and will therefore be widowed themselves. This doesn’t mean we sit crying into our tea though! Expect jokes and laughter as well as talking and empathy (ok, maybe a few tears every now and then, but usually of relief that you now ‘belong’ somewhere where people understand you) and a friendly welcome from others who have all been in the same boat as new members themselves.

We offer WAY members access to a confidential telephone support service which is delivered by trained counsellors as part of the WAY membership package.

To speak to someone regarding a bereavement, we also recommend calling the Cruse Bereavement Helpline on 08444 779 400.

If you are struggling to cope and/or are feeling suicidal, please call the Samaritans, who are trained to listen to, and help you, on 08457 90 90 90.

There are many bereavement counselling organisations that we have the details for on our useful links page.

As part of our membership package, we offer access to a confidential telephone helpline with trained counsellors.  We also offer a legal and finance advice line via Irwin Mitchell Solicitors. 

Some people have asked whether WAY Widowed and Young is a dating agency, which is absolutely not the case.

WAY is a peer support network that offers support, understanding and friendship to young widowed people across the UK. Our charity is first and foremost about building supportive friendships among people who understand exactly what it feels like to be widowed at a young age. Sometimes those friendships do blossom into something deeper and romantic relationships do on occasion develop between our members. However, we would like to reiterate that this is the exception rather than the rule and that our focus at WAY is very much around building friendships and rebuilding a social life for young widowed people that doesn't revolve around being part of a couple. We also have a robust complaints procedure in place and will take swift action against any of our members who behaves in an inappropriate manner towards any of their fellow members.

No. WAY is not a grant-making charity and we rely on donations ourselves to keep the charity running. We are currently starting to apply for funds from trusts and foundations ourselves, for help with core costs and projects for our members, as well as increasing awareness and growing the membership. If you would like to help fund any of our work, or know someone who could, please get in touch with our fundraising department on fundraising@widowedandyoung.org.uk

Any donation, no matter how big or small, is very gratefully received and you can find out more about what we are fundraising for here. There are donate buttons on our website, or you can visit our JustGiving page where you can make one-off donation or sign up to give regularly. Please consider signing up for Gift Aid on top of your donation, as this enables us to claim more money on your behalf from the government, with no extra effort on your part. Information on Legacy donations is coming soon.

There are a multitude of ways you can fundraise for WAY, from running a marathon to making cards, jumping out of a plane to clearing out your wardrobe! There are just a few rules to abide by, so please take a moment to read through our guidelines. See what our members have been doing to fundraise for us.

Most of our volunteer network is made up of WAY members, as many of the roles have previously required the empathy of also being widowed to put the other members at ease. As the charity grows, and more people need our help, we will inevitably need the assistance of more volunteers. To find out if there are any volunteer vacancies at present, please take a look at our News page or keep an eye on Facebook or Twitter. We occasionally have Trustee vacancies, and sometimes require the advice of professionals such as solicitors, HR, accountants, event planners, etc – if you think you could help us, please contact volunteering@widowedandyoung.org.uk

You can request some leaflets to be sent out to you by filling in our leaflet request form. We welcome enquiries from any organisation that would be willing to put leaflets in their establishment or pin one up on a noticeboard. Equally, we welcome enquiries from individuals who could take leaflets along to their doctor’s surgery, community centre, hospital, hospice, church, school, workplace staff room, florist, funeral director, or anywhere else willing to display one. Your local Tesco, for example, should be willing to put a leaflet up on their community board. The more we can spread the word about WAY, the more people who need our services will find us.

We post updates regularly on the News page of our website, and on our public Facebook page. You can also follow us on Twitter & Instagram. Or why not sign up to our Friends of WAY E-newsletter (see footer), which we send out regularly to keep people updated about what we’re up to?

If your annual WAY membership is up for renewal all you need to do is log in to your member account on the website, and renewing your membership is quick and easy via our online payment system.

To continue attending local events and holidays, receiving WAY magazines and email newsletters, and getting access to our members only web community, you need to keep your £30 annual membership up to date.

Yes, you can purchase a gift membership for a friend from our shop here and then share the gift code with them when they are ready to join.