Summer of Swans success

September 2024

This summer, WAY Widowed and Young launched a swan-related summer fundraising challenge together with our volunteer Griffyn. Over the past few weeks, Griffyn has dedicated 100 hours to folding origami swans and inscribing them with heartfelt messages in a beautiful tribute to our loved ones. Thanks to Griffyn’s incredible dedication and everyone who’s got involved, we’ve raised more than £640 to help young widowed people across the UK.

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Here’s Griffyn’s fifth and final weekly update:

“We did it! 1,000 swans folded, well over 100 hours spent, and so many stories shared. Huge thanks to everyone who joined in with our Summer of Swans.

In keeping with the Japanese tradition of senbazuru that inspired this summer’s origami swan challenge, when I finished the final swan, I made a wish for more comfort, support and peace for everyone living with grief.

The range of colours and the little imperfections as I folded the swans has been a reminder of what I appreciate so much about WAY. There’s not one way to grieve or one textbook story of losing a partner. And there’s no way to change the past. But the chance to find community and learn from a huge range of experiences can be incredibly healing. 

If you want to send your own swans in, there’s still a few more days to have yours added to the collection!

With love and solidarity,

Griffyn x”

We’ll be displaying the 1,000+ swans at our AGM in Cheshire on 21 September.

If you’ve been inspired by Griffyn’s story, it’s not too late to get involved…

Find out more Make a donation Read Griffyn's weekly updates