child loss, bereavement, tcf canada, tcf, compassionate friends, grief, grieving

“The poignant image of the small child either moving away
 or towards the hands which look male and female,
along the rays of sunlight has never been analyzed
and remains whatever each parent, sibling,
 grandparent feels it is for them.”

-Joe Lawley

 

Are the hands reaching out or letting Go?
Are they the hands of one person or two?

Much of the beauty of our logo lies in the fact that there are no definite answers to its symbolism. At first glance it’s meaning seems obvious; yet as you look more closely, these questions may arise.

The hands represent different things to us at different periods in our grief journeys. To the newly bereaved, the hands reach out toward him or her, offering comfort and support. Later in our grief journeys, they may symbolize the process of letting go, of coming to terms with the child’s death, of acknowledging that the child is no longer a part of our earthly existence.

Still later in our grief journeys, we begin to reinvest in life and reach out toward others. Then OUR hands become the hands which are extended to the newly bereaved.

The circle is complete: a circle of friends, a circle of love and understanding, with the child at the center.

How the Logo came about……

Joe and Iris Lawley, explain the origin of our logo with the child in the distance and the hands of one bereaved parent reaching for another bereaved…..

In a letter dated February 12, 1975, from John and Maggie Fisher of Coventry, England…..

“My daughter, Clare, was killed on November 17th, 1974, aged 8½. By chance, we met someone who knew someone who had heard of the Friends, who lived in Watford, some twenty or thirty miles from our home, and as a consequence, Mrs. Joan Wills wrote to us and subsequently came to our home.

Although we still feel our loss greatly, we both know that we are now ready to assist the Friends ourselves.

Our help would also include the service of my own company, (John Fisher Design & Marketing, Ltd.) which includes Advertising, Design, Marketing and Public Relations activities. We are mobile, immediately available and ready, both physically and spiritually, to begin work for the Friends. Please use us.”

Alex Hartley, the second chairman of The Compassionate Friends and his National Committee, asked them to design us a logo. Subsequently, John Fisher was the designer of the famous TCF logo of the caring hands. It was first used on the front cover of the June 1975 Newsletter, Coventry England, and now is used by TCF groups around the world. It has been recorded that the original logo was in a bright emerald green, subsequently, settling into the generally universal colour of royal blue and white from 1977 on.

Canadian designed lapel pins have a white outside ring and gold lettering and trim that outlines the child, the rays of sunshine, the hands and the outer ring.       
        Approved by The Compassionate Friends of Canada (1987).