The Official Launch of The Ambassadorship Programme

“Be a part of all that is decent and be an Ambassador for the kind of world that you want to live in.”

Julie Andrews

Back on January 14^th, I published a post (which you can see here) on the Gracie’s Way Instagram (@gracieswayuk) with the caption ‘Available Opportunities’ and then I very briefly listed each of the six opportunities – which, through the creation of the brand-new Collaboration Pack – have actually now been whittled down to five! Off the back of that post, I decided to create an Ambassadorship Programme. And so today sees the official launch of the Programme with some insight into the Info Pack for it as well as an introduction to the first two Gracie’s Way Ambassadors…

Meet the First Professional Ambassador: Emma

What is your name and Ambassador role?

I’m Emma Yoxall, a Gracie’s Way Professional Ambassador. 

What drew you to the project?

I decided to become involved in this project because I firmly believe it is necessary to raise awareness of pet loss as being a valid form of grief and I could see that the aim of Gracie’s Way was to get people talking openly about loss, reducing the shame linked to admitting you are struggling with pet grief and provide resources to both individuals and professionals working in this space.

Meet the First Bereavement Ambassador: Dana

Hello, my name is Dana Silversides, and I’ve recently just become a Bereavement Ambassador for Gracie’s Way. 

 

I am really excited for this role, and it’s something I’ve never done before. 

 

Gracie’s Way quickly became a big piece of my heart, and the Project is very close to me. I have always loved animals and found them to bring me great comfort. But with love, there comes loss. I recently lost 2 of my pet rats, and it was a really difficult time for me. It was something I didn’t think I would recover from, but I had to because I had 2 other rats to care for, who had also lost their 2 brothers. As much as I missed them, they did too, and they needed me to be strong and look after them. That’s why when I found Aimee’s post about pet bereavement, I responded. I’m grateful I did, because that’s how I found out about Gracie’s Way.  Gracie’s Way really changed my recovery from pet bereavement and that is why, when I was given the opportunity to become a Bereavement Ambassador for Gracie’s Way, I had to!

How Fox Under the Moon Got Pet Bereavement So Right | In Collaboration with Illustrator & Author; Stacey McNeill of Fox Under the Moon | Love Your Pet Day 2026

“Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world.”

Barack Obama

foxunderthemoon | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok | Linktree

Purchase the Book: https://foxunderthemoonart.com/pages/seasons

Last year, I visited a Christmas Market at a nearby town with a best-friend and I ended up meeting the Illustrator and Author of Fox Under the Moon, Stacey McNeill. She very kindly gifted me a copy of her book so that I could write a blog post about it on my mental health blog I’m NOT Disordered for National Reading Day earlier this year (you can read the collaboration piece here!). In our emails planning the collaboration, I also offered/suggested doing a partnered piece for Gracie’s Way too and rather than thinking about mental health (as I did on the I’m NOT Disordered blog post), I would focus on the relevance Fox Under the Moon has on pet bereavement, grief, and loss. Then I discovered the existence of Love Your Pet Day and Stacey, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to publish this new collaboration…

Isolation in Pet Bereavement, Challenging It, & Coping With It

“We're all in this together. It's okay to be honest. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to say you're stuck, or that you're haunted or that you can't begin to let go. We can all relate to those things. Screw the stigma that says otherwise. Break the silence and break the cycle, for you are more than just your pain. You are not alone. And people need other people.”

Jamie Tworkowski

A while ago, I was emailing an incredibly supportive person with lived experience of pet bereavement (she’s actually the Author of this Guest Article: "They showed me what my purpose was" : Guest Article | Gracie's Way) and we were discussing a new, upcoming opportunity on Gracie’s Way that will be launched very soon. In the communication, we’d discussed travelling and I’d mentioned that I used to love travelling – I used to do a lot of it before the pandemic/lockdown for my blog (I’m NOT Disordered) – but when I began experiencing seizures and was eventually (fairly recently) diagnosed with Epilepsy, it really affected my confidence in travelling solo – especially far from home! I ended up explaining the rule that you have to be one year without seizures to be able to drive and she responded that she has family members with Epilepsy and knew all about it. I made the comment in response that sometimes I just forget that I’m not completely alone in it and I mentioned that this is similar to pet bereavement and that was the inspiration for this Article where I’m going to talk through why you might feel alone in your loss, how to cope with thoughts and feelings of isolation, why you should find peers with similar experiences, how to find them, advice on how to properly communicate with each other, and how to cope when hearing the potentially upsetting and triggering experiences of others…

"I Hate Writing About Him In Past Tense" : Guest Article by Nicola Davis

Rory was (I hate writing about him in past tense) a little white and sandy coloured Shih Tzu, who brought joy to all our lives.

I wasn’t supposed to have Rory, it was obviously just meant to be. My sister and friend were buying a puppy and I went with them. When the gate flew open, the puppies all came bounding in to the room. But at the very back was the runt of the litter, who tripped, did a roll and splatted on the floor. From that moment I knew I had to have him. Someone had already claimed him, but lucky for me they didn’t show up to collect him and the rest as they say is history...

The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Letter to Your Pet After They’ve Gone

“We’ll be friends forever, won’t we, Pooh?” asked Piglet.

“Even longer,” Pooh answered.

A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

So, I asked AI – Chat GPT to be exact – for idea on Articles for Gracie’s Way it mentioned recommending or discussing the idea of writing a letter your pet after they’ve gone. I absolutely loved this thought because I’ve actually written letters to pets after they’ve passed – and whilst they’ve been alive (mostly on Birthdays) – that I’ve published in blog posts on my mental health blog; I’m NOT Disordered (www.imnotdisordered.co.uk). I’ll link a few of them after this little introduction...