PEOPLE in Bradford did not have the chance to grieve lost loved ones during the pandemic due to the upheaval caused by Covid, a local project has argued.

The Sahara Initiative CiC said that restricted funerals, a lack of contact with friends and family and social isolation meant that many who lost relatives in 2020 and 2021 were unable to mourn or get closure.

A lack of cultural awareness also exacerbated the situation for many ethnic minority communities in Bradford – where Covid rates were particularly high – as traditional funeral rituals had to be abandoned.

This was the view expressed by The Sahara Initiative co-founder, Husnain Hussain, who is now trying to help people deal with loss through its Silent Epidemic of Grief programme.

“We’ve seen cases in Bradford where people lost three or four family members during the pandemic,” said Husnain, 31.

“Bradford has high levels of socio-economic deprivation, as well as a large ethnic minority population. Some ‘BAME’ communities had significantly higher rates of dying from the virus. This all meant that there was a lot of bereavement here.

“But, due to restrictions, people were unable to grieve in their preferred way.

“Different communities express grief differently – for some, certain rituals and customs are vital in allowing people to express their loss.

“But the pandemic introduced complications in the normal processes of mourning – making it hard for people to recover.”

The Silent Epidemic has been launched to coincide with the third anniversary of when the UK first went into lockdown.

The project, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, has held two workshops so far – which were in both English and Urdu – and plans to hold more.

Its official launch is at The Great Victoria Hotel tonight (March 10) from 6pm to 10pm, where The Sahara Initiative will talk about how it can help people manage grief.

“There was a lack of support around bereavement during Covid. People who had lost someone were expected to just get on with their lives,” said Husnain.

“That’s why the programme is called the Silent Epidemic. People didn’t know how to accept the loss of a loved one, or who to speak to about it.”

The Sahara Initiative is hoping to hold workshops at colleges, universities, mosques and community centres in the near future.

“Through these workshops, we want to try and understand the impact of Covid,” said Husnain.

“More importantly, we want to focus on bereavement support, using the universal model of grief counselling.”