Board of Trustees
Mary Gault – Growing Through Representative
Adeline McClenaghan – Chairperson
Gail Lawther – Trustee
Emma Crawford – Trustee
Jacqui Macaulay – Trustee
Emma Dorman – Secretary
Mary Gault
Growing Through Representative
Having navigated the journey of grief myself after losing my husband very suddenly as a young woman, when my own children were only two and six, I can relate first-hand to the difficulties and struggles that can be experienced attempting to help my children heal and grow through all their pain and loss. My struggle to find continuing support for my children as they slowly came to terms with their loss essentially highlighted for me the lack of ongoing grief services available for children, especially for kids bereaved through family breakdown. When God opened an ordained door for me when he connected me to the founders of Growing Through, I was very excited at the uniqueness and speciality of the programmes they offered in that they brought Jesus into the equation, who is the true source to healing a broken heart. As much as society pushes us to believe that this is not the case, I can absolutely confirm that experiencing loss is very much a spiritual experience having tried initially to address my brokenness without God to finding peace and fulfilment when He healed my broken heart a few years later. I am passionate about bringing Jesus into the centre of the healing process and these resources deliver that and so much more. They are fun, interactive and full of diverse games, biblical truth, crafts and stories that keep each child engaged so much that they want to come back again and again.
Adeline McClenaghan
Chairperson
I have always had a God-given desire to help children/young people going through family breakdown, helping them with their emotions as well as telling them about Jesus. No churches were providing this service at the time. I used my skills learnt working in a domestic violence organisation to help add to developing the Grief Support Groups programmes to what they are today.
Gail Lawther
Trustee
I am a trustee on the board of Growing Through and have been involved as a facilitator for the Pot of Gold program since 2004. As a parent and a teacher, I know that children and young people do not have a magical store of resilience to draw on when a loss occurs in their life. So, to be part of supporting hurting children on their journey to “Grow Through” the problems and manage the many emotions they will experience when faced with a loss, is a real privilege. What a joy it is to let them know that they are special children of God and that they have loving and caring Father who will always have their back!
Emma Crawford
Trustee
As a teenager my younger sister and I experienced our parent’s separation and subsequent divorce. She and I reacted to that very differently, so despite the shared experience she wasn’t someone I could talk to about my anger and frustration. Not wanting to add to my parents troubles I also didn’t talk to either of them. Moving into my twenties I can reflect back and recognise I made a lot of poor choices based on the unprocessed emotions from that period of my life. As an adult I finally took responsibility of my emotional pain and sought help through Christian counselling and now strongly advocate for the benefit that can be gained through the sharing of these experiences. While I now sit on the board of Growing Through, I have in the past helped facilitate some of the groups. My role was to support children using the vast array of resources our charity has, equipping children with the tools and strategies required to navigate these difficult life events. However, when I then went on to experience the loss of first my stepsister and then my stepbrother, I discovered I had also gained a range of coping strategies from being involved in the groups, even as an adult. I thought God had placed me within the groups to assist other people not realising He had put me in that role to help me through what was to come. Jesus draws near to the broken hearted, He promises to walk beside us through each of these difficulties and I am passionate about sharing God’s love and providing resources for children and young people who have also experienced similar loss. I believe if we can give children the necessary tools and strategies to help navigate the emotional minefield that is loss then we can set them up to make better life choices later, whatever that might be and hopefully give them the necessary tools to help those around them.
Jacqui McCauley
Trustee
I came on board because God put it on my heart that it is extremely important to minister to children who have suffered loss through either death or family breakdown. Its close to God’s heart. Having experienced the hardship of my own children going through loss after my own divorce, I saw that these programmes were a lifeline to children and teens. My own teen daughter benefitted greatly after she attended Rays of light when she was bullied in school. I now help facilitate Pot of Gold and give back to a very worthy cause.
Emma Dorman
Secretary
I have been involved in Growing Through for many years now, most recently taking on the role of secretary on the Board of Trustees. I knew Mary from church and had seen and heard about her wonderful work with children. I have always had a heart for hurting children and wanted to get involved in this amazing work. I trained as a facilitator for the teenage groups and saw first-hand how helpful this biblical based programme is to children trying to navigate through the devastating emotions of family bereavement or breakdown.