An Oxford artist and author has set up a friendship group to help those struggling with bereavement after her own painful loss.

Alison Hoblyn started work with Cruse Oxfordshire, a charity devoted to bereavement care, when her father died in 1995. The author of the Scent of Water, a novel that deals with death, said she sought the help of the bereavement charity as she watched her mother struggle to come to terms with the trauma.

When her mother also passed away, she started volunteer work with the charity, and now runs a friendship group for people under 50 who have lost a loved one.

She said: "What I want to get across is that although losing someone is hard, life afterwards is not all gloom and doom.

"These friendship groups are really designed for people who have got to the point where they feel strong enough to re-engage with a social life again.

"We do have specialist bereavement councillors in Oxfordshire but these groups are more about making connections again."

The Oxford under-50s group was set up just a few weeks ago with £2,000, raised at a Cruse fashion show.

The Cruse charity's name comes from a biblical story about a widow whose jar (cruse) of oil never ran out because she shared it.

The charity runs a group for older members in Abingdon who meet during the day.

And the friendship groups for under 50s meets every third Thursday of the month.

For more information, contact their office on 01865 245398 between 10 and 12 each weekday morning or leave a message and someone will return your call.