Helping to navigate life after loss

WAY is a UK Charity that offers a peer-to-peer support network for anyone aged 50 or under when their partner died.

Support • Understanding • Friendship.

Join WAY

Come and find your place among thousands of young widows who truly understand. Find peer support online or in person, from a tribe who really "get it".

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Join us

Supporting Young Widows

Know a young widow? Here are our pointers and tips for how you can best support them when it is needed the most.

Two women sit closely outside, one with an arm around the other

How to help

Campaigning for Bereaved Families

Learn how WAY supports bereaved families through campaigning for the rights of widows and how you can engage.

View our campaigns

Gentle ways to support your mental health after being widowed young

May 2026

Walking through grief: Why Felix set up a hiking group for young widowed people

May 2026

Getting your Will sorted: A former solicitor and young widow’s guide

Apr 2026

"My WAY friends have made me feel alive again and made me understand my feelings are valid and I do matter." - Sweena

“The support has been just brilliant. It’s just being able to have a network of people who get it, people who understand the situation.” - Gary

"The LGBTQ+ group is a little glittery place of fabulousness filled with people who are looking after each other and shouting out for each other." - Suzanne

“I haven’t felt so much like me for a long time. The laughs will carry me through for some time.” - Jenn

“It’s the worst club to be a part of, but at least there is a club.” - Pete

Join us!

You don't have to face widowhood alone – join over 0 other young widowed people across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales who ‘get it’.

If you've lost your partner before your 51st birthday and live in the UK – married or not, with or without children, inclusive of sexual orientation, gender, race and religion – you are welcome to join us.

Joining up to WAY takes just minutes and costs just £30 per year.

Become a member

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Join hundreds of others who get what you're going through.

Membership FAQs

Time to renew?

If your annual WAY membership is up for renewal all you need to do is log in to your member account on the website, and renewing your membership is quick and easy via our online payment system.

To continue attending local events and holidays, receiving WAY magazines and email newsletters, and getting access to our members only web community, you need to keep your annual membership up to date.

Financial support for your membership

We are well aware that, as a result of bereavement and its consequences, many people can struggle financially.

The WAY Memorial Fund has been established to support our members who may need help to enjoy the benefits of membership. Currently there are funds available to assist members in both the payment of their annual membership fees and to attend WAY-organised events in the UK.

If you, or a member you know, would like to apply for assistance please apply here.

All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Age 51 or over?

Our constitution limits us from enabling those aged 51 or over at the time of their bereavement from joining WAY. You are still able to join, and remain a WAY member, past your 51st birthday if you were bereaved before then.

If you are age 51 or over, we can signpost you to WAY Up which is an online community of widowed men and women that is UK wide.

Most WAY Up members are aged 52-65 and they offer each other support and friendship on their forum, as well as holding gatherings and parties that are becoming the stuff of legend.

More FAQs

Read our full list of frequently asked questions about WAY and becoming a member.