Start a group
Every Dead Parents Society group starts with one person who decides their community needs this. If that person is you, we want to help you make it happen.
DPS is growing. Here's what's on the horizon for later in 2026:
We're launching a Sydney chapter in July. Get in touch if you'd like to be part of the founding group.
An online group is launching later in 2026, so DPS can reach people no matter where they are, especially those who live ruraly so have less access to support services.
We're looking for someone to facilitate a new Melbourne chapter. If that's you, we'd love to chat.
Grief is everywhere, but support designed for young adults who've lost a parent is still hard to find. If you've experienced parental loss and want to help others on this strange journey, you already have everything you need to start our next DPS group/
Founding and facilitating a DPS group doesn't require any training or qualifications. You need to understand the experience, be willing to hold space for others, and be able to bring people together to talk approximately once a month.
We can also support people wanting to start a group outside Australia. If you're overseas and think your community needs this, please reach out, we'd love to help.
Email us at dps.canberra@gmail.com to let us know you're interested. We'll have a conversation about what's needed to get a group started. We give you access to session plans we've run before and can help you shape your own sessions.
We recommend meeting in a centrally located public place, well connected to transport options. The Canberra group meets at a hotel resturant because it's open after work and they don't expect people to buy a meal. Some libraries offer meeting rooms outside business hours for free to community groups or you could consider a community centre, church hall, or pub function room. Ideally the venue would be free to use as we do not ask DPS members to pay for sessions and we can't provide funding for venue hire.
Start local. Talk to you friends and a find a few people who are interested. Post in Facebook community groups, Reddit city forums, university notice boards, and local Instagram pages. We find word of mouth is the best route and we may already know of people in your location that have already expressed interest in attending sessions and can put you in touch with them. Even one or two people at the first session is a success!
We'll help you decide on your venue and timing and help you prepare for your first session. We provide a facilitation guide so you're not starting from scratch. We also share what we've learnt over the years about how to help people feel comfortable in the space and how to make each session valuable.
The first session is always the hardest. But soon you will have other and they will tell their friends and it will grow. Consistency is the most important ingredient - show up every month and keep refining to meet your members where they are at on their grief journies.
When you start a DPS group, you're not on your own. Here's what we provide to every new group:
A simple, practical guide to running sessions, including how to curate the space, how to plan and run sessions, how to handle difficult moments, and how to make the organising easy.
A library of themed session plans you can use or adapt. You don't have to come up with new topics or new activities.
A direct line to the Canberra team. We'll check in, answer questions, share our learnings and help troubleshoot if needed.
The first step is just sending us an email. We'd love to hear from you.
Get in touch