Greg Johnston's favourite day of the week is Friday. Fish and chips, a film with the girls, easing into the weekend. The kind of simple, ordinary joy that doesn't need explaining. It took a lot to get there. Greg and his wife Jill lost their daughter Evie in September 2015, six months after she was born.

On the night she died, they made a decision - her life was going to have a positive impact. Team Evie was born that night. It now supports around 10,000 families a year across Cumbria, Lancashire, and the North East. This conversation is about grief and joy and what it looks like to keep choosing joy even when grief is part of the picture.

Listen if you...

• Keep moving forward because stopping feels more frightening than carrying on
• Are the person who always copes, so asking for help has never really felt like an option
• Have been through something hard and quietly wonder if you'll ever feel properly okay again
• Know what it is to hold everything together on the outside while something is breaking on the inside
• Have been told "time's a healer" and it didn't help
• Are looking for proof that joy is still possible after the hardest thing

Keywords

grief and resilience, child loss, bereavement support, asking for help, health anxiety, courage, joy after loss, mental health, charity founder, Team Evie, Reflective Rebels, UK podcast

About Greg Johnston Greg Johnston is the founder and CEO of Team Evie, a charity supporting families of critically ill children across Cumbria, Lancashire, and the North East. Find out more and support the charity: teamevie.co.uk

Support Team Evie Team Evie relies entirely on donations and fundraising to do what it does. If this episode has moved you, please consider making a donation or getting involved. Every contribution directly supports families going through the hardest thing. teamevie.co.uk.

If you've been affected If anything in this episode has brought something up for you - child loss, bereavement, health anxiety, or just the feeling that you're not coping as well as you should be - please don't sit with it alone. Team Evie's peer support service is at teamevie.co.uk. For mental health support, Mind are at mind.org.uk.

About Ben Ben Hickman is an ILM Level 7 qualified business coach based in Carlisle. Reflective Rebels exists to spread joy - the kind that comes from knowing who you are, knowing what you want, and having the courage to go and get it. reflectiverebels.co.uk

Support the Podcast The best thing you can do is share this episode with one person you think needs to hear it.

Episode length: 1:15:48