WHEN THE WORLD FEELS SHAKEN, WE HELP IT SETTLE
For some, Christmas is the season they look forward to all year.
For others, it’s the hardest time to face.
Across towns and villages, windows glow with fairy lights and Christmas music drifts from shop doors. Inside homes, friends and families gather around tables to eat, laugh and argue – the familiar rituals of the season unfolding once again.
But behind many of those same windows are people carrying grief, worry or the ache of someone missing from the room – others simply facing the season alone, far from family or out of step with the cheer around them.
The world insists on joy, yet for many, December brings a quiet ache beneath the noise and the pressure to be cheerful can make the silence of loss feel even louder.
At ellenor, we understand how fragile this season can feel – and how much difference a steadying hand can make. Our teams bring comfort and connection to people living with serious illness, and to those finding their way through loss.
Around the world, every family’s Christmas looks a little different.
For some, the season centres on faith. Midnight Mass, Advent candles or nativity scenes passed down through generations. For others, it’s about food and togetherness – a Polish Wigilia on Christmas Eve, Colombian Nochebuena filled with fireworks and song, Caribbean dishes shared across big family tables. And for some, Christmas isn’t part of their tradition at all – yet the need for connection, especially in the darker months, is something we all share, as the snow inside each of our worlds begins to settle.
Because that’s what this season is really about: connection. Not just being surrounded by people, but truly feeling seen because you can still feel alone in your grief, even in a crowded room.
Being held when life feels fragile. Finding calm when everything else feels shaken.
“For some, the season feels like a snow globe that’s just been shaken,” says Terri from ellenor’s Family Support Team. “Everything familiar is swirling, and you’re not sure when it will settle. But when we come together, even for an hour, there’s a calm that starts to return.”
Because grief doesn’t end or disappear – it walks alongside us. But with the right support, it can become gentler, more bearable, until calm begins to return.
As one family recently told us, “When we first came to ellenor, it felt like our world had been shaken and nothing would ever settle again. But little by little, they helped us find calm – until one day, it felt like the snow inside our globe had finally stopped swirling.”
After all, no two snow globes are the same – each one tells its own story. And at ellenor, we’re here to help every family’s picture settle back into focus.
Because when life feels shaken, we can’t stop the snow from falling — but we can be there while it settles.
For anyone whose world still feels shaken, our Bereavement Cuppa offers a warm space to pause, connect and let life gently begin to settle.
ellenor’s Bereavement Cuppa runs:
Third Saturday of each month, 10:00 – 12:00 at Swanley Link, London Road, Swanley BR8 7AE.
Every Thursday morning, 10:00 – 12:00 at the Glentworth Club, 154 Lowfield Street, Dartford, DA1 1JB.
Every Thursday evening 19:00 – 21:00 at ellenor, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend DA11 7HQ.
