A new app is bringing bereavement support to young people in the place they turn to every day - their phone.
The new Archie’s Child Bereavement Service app has been developed to help children and teenagers to process their grief and share core memories following the loss of a loved one, or while a special person is going through end-of-life care.
The app has been designed for the charity by Justin Michael of Aberdeen-based Cog Mobile, who has drawn on his personal experience of losing his own father when he was just 17.
Among the features are safe spaces to track feelings, set reminders for special days, securely store photos and share private memories.
Parents can help younger children to access the app or teens can use their own phones. ACBS bereavement service manager Malcolm Stewart said it was designed to meet young people where they already are, rather than asking them to step into an unfamiliar support system.
“When a young person loses someone they love, knowing where to turn can be difficult but being properly supported is essential for their long-term wellbeing and mental health. ACBS provides personalised support in person and through the use of resources such as books and toys but we wanted to build an app so we can offer accessible bereavement support directly into the digital space many young people already use every day,” he said.
“Our new app provides a private, accessible and familiar space where bereaved young people can find information, tools and support at their own pace or with help from an adult, whenever they need it. We’d encourage anyone who is dealing with bereavement to download it.
“Memories are so powerful and we are particularly grateful to Justin for helping us to build the app as his own experience of loss has helped to shape a tool which is user-friendly and a safe space for expressing thoughts, anger and other feelings.”
The app includes a tool for children to track their feelings and rank how they feel today on a scale of 1 to 10. While they may not want to speak to anyone that day, they can share how they feel on the app, and importantly, that information is not shared with anyone.
There are also resources for parents and teachers, with helpful information to guide the young person through different stages of grief.
For Justin, it has been a personal journey.
“The ability to set a reminder for something that’s personal to you was really important when we were building the app,” he said. “In my family, we don’t like to remember when my Dad died and prefer to mark his birthday, so the user can choose another milestone that triggers a happy memory – the day we went to the park, the time we went on holiday or the day Dad was especially proud of me.”
Cog Mobile was set up 13 years ago and now employs three full-time staff plus additional contractors. Supporting ACBS is an important way for Justin to give something back.
He was just 16 and had just started a games development course at college in Dundee when his dad Ian Michael was diagnosed with bowel cancer and died nine months later, at the age of 54.
Ian was a guitarist in well-known Aberdeen band The Billy Shears Band and Justin picked up his dad’s guitar to play in a fundraising concert to raise money to send him to China for experimental stem cell treatment.
“I delayed the grieving process but failed my course that year, put on a lot of weight and didn’t want to go out. At the time in the 1990s there was less support available and I navigated it on my own. If there had been resources like the app available then, my experience would have been very different.”
Justin is now dad to a 7-year-old son and a daughter, who is 11.
“Losing my dad at such a young age has impacted my own parenting. I don’t leave things until later, we do spontaneous things, spend money on holidays and try to live a healthy lifestyle. Having the opportunity to work with the team at Archie on this fantastic app is my chance to give back and hopefully change the outcome for young people who are experiencing their own grief.”
Part of The Archie Foundation charity, Archie’s Child Bereavement Service started out as a committee and has expanded to include support staff and volunteers across the north of Scotland, including the far north, the West Coast, Tayside and Orkney.
The team offers a wide range of services, which are tailored to suit the individual needs of each child and their family. Following an initial conversation by phone, the team then decides how best to support the child or young person.
This can range from providing specialist books to help a child understand what the death of a loved one means and to understand their emotions to craft sessions, group events and activity days. Almost 600 children were supported in 2025.
The experienced team also offers advice on effective communication and what to say to parents to mirror what is being shared in school, as well as group and one-to-one sessions.
The Archie Foundation supports babies, children and families during a hospital visit or stay, as well as following a bereavement.
Archie has helped children and families across the north of Scotland for more than 25 years, funding specialist roles and projects at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital and, more recently, at Highland Children’s Unit, Tayside Children’s Hospital and Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin.
Visit www.archie.org/getsupport/ for more information about the practical, financial and emotional support available from The Archie Foundation, or https://archie.org/bereavement/ for details of how to access help from Archie’s Child Bereavement Service.
The free Archie Child Bereavement Service app is available now through the Google and Apple app stores.