The Sutton branch of a charity which aims to support people who have lost people close to them has been launched.

National charity Cruse was found in 1959, in Richmond, with the aim of responding to those in need that are suffering from grief.

More than 30,000 people were helped last year and now it has been expanded into the borough after it was launched at the Holiday Inn in Gibson Road on September 25.

Its life president, Dr Colin Murray Parkes OBE, was in attendance and is known for his work which includes being a consultant after the 1966 Aberfan disaster in Wales and the 1998 Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland.

The new branch is named Cruse Bereavement Care Sutton.

New volunteer Margaret Reith explained why she wants to give up her time to work with the new branch, and said: “There’s a huge gap and a need in Sutton, it’s really important as grief affects everybody.

“Everyone has someone who dies.”

Cruse Bereavement Sutton can be accessed by phone, email, and through their website, offering face-to-face and group counselling services by trained volunteers.

For more information, you can visit the website here.