Supporting each other at Christmas: Sam’s story as a WAY volunteer

December 2025

Christmas can be a tough and isolating time for many widowed people. WAY volunteer Sam explains what motivated her to help host Christmas Day Zoom meet-ups – and why these supportive spaces are so important… 

“I was widowed suddenly in 2021 when my husband developed a catastrophic bleed during routine surgery, leaving me and our 11-year-old daughter. As it was 2021, we had a long wait for an inquest and things were still on the edge of COVID so it felt like the grieving process was in suspended animation. 

I joined WAY pretty quickly. I realised that I was the only person I knew who had been widowed pre-retirement age and I knew I needed to support myself and our daughter. Peer support seemed really logical! 

After a while there was a request for volunteers to host Zooms; I have always enjoyed volunteering and thought I might be able to use the time I spent in the evenings doing something more productive than eating crisps and watching rubbish telly. I ‘met’ WAY’s National Volunteer Manager Veronica online and eventually co-hosted my first New Member Zoom. It was a bit daunting but very, very quickly it felt a very comfortable and privileged space. It's also been so wonderful to watch these ‘strangers’ become not just online friends but actual, proper friends and the support they give each other is incredible. 

Connecting at Christmas

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Christmas felt a very natural fit for a Zoom call. I was lucky enough to host two last year with my fabulous co-hosts. I thought that a safe, welcoming space where people could dip in and out would help give support on what can be such a tricky, emotional day. We hosted one call in the early afternoon and one in the evening and I can honestly say they were lovely. 

We had people cooking dinner, people sneaking into childhood bedrooms or people sitting with us whilst their children were asleep. It was such an honour to hang out with people from the Highlands, from Central London, from the South West (and everywhere in between). There was a lot of laughter, some shared eye-rolls about family and a general sense of relief that people were with others who got it and got them. I can also say there was a lot of relief that another huge, challenging day had been navigated. 

I hope this year’s Christmas Zooms will again give a sense of the WAY community finding support and solidarity with fellow WAYers and hopefully make people feel less alone and less isolated. I think you can feel alone in a crowded room, especially when your person is missing, and so many families have ongoing traditions and routines that only highlight the loss you're experiencing. Having the opportunity to join other people who share those unspoken stings of grief allows you to leave some of that for a moment and talk about daft, silly stuff without guilt.”