WATCH: Kenilworth student makes film to help young people cope with grief after father's death

Raveena Nandra has made a film about coping with grief

Raveena Nandra, 22, said she struggled to come to terms with the loss of her father, Charlie, who died from a sudden heart attack when she was just 12 years old.

After her experience, she has made a film to help other young people who have lost a loved one with the help of young persons' charity Fixers.

Raveena, a third year student at Birmingham City University, said: "‘I lost my dad ten years ago and growing up I was angry and felt guilty. Even now I feel lost – going through grief is an ongoing experience.

An old photo of Raveena (right) with her father Charlie and her brother Amardeep

My father suddenly passed away aged 42 of a heart attack. It made me feel like my whole world had fallen apart.

"I was daddy's girl and I felt like I lost my best friend.

"I made little things up in my mind to make me believe he's still here. I felt I had to be strong for my mum and that I had to throw myself in to my education to make my dad proud."

Titled ‘Seven Stages of Grief: Coping with Loss’, Raveena’s film aims to get other young people who have lost a loved one to open up about their emotions.

Raveena, who has lived in Kenilworth for the past 18 years, recently started attending specialist counselling sessions to help talk about her loss.

She added: "I have now realised that maybe I didn’t get the support that I needed to be able to grieve properly.

"When I was younger I do wish we’d spoken about it more. We were afraid to talk about my dad as a family. It’s important we allow ourselves to remember the person that we have lost.

"Now it has hit me that I haven’t been able to grieve properly and now I need to seek help for myself."

Raveena hopes to organise talks at schools, colleges and universities to show her film and discuss ways to deal with bereavement.

"I hope by doing this project it will help others who have experienced loss. The more we can be open about our grief the better we will feel."

Fixers works with young people aged 16 to 25 across the UK by providing them with professional resources to help them campaign on issues they feel strongly about.

The charity has helped more than 22,700 youngsters across the UK to have a voice in their community on issues such as cyber-bullying, self-harm, suicide or transphobia.