For 16-year-old Lilli Morgan, a Co-op and Barnardo’s partnership service in Plymouth became a lifeline after multiple family bereavements in less than a year.
Lilli was only 15 when her dad, Dave, sadly died in August 2024 at just 49 years old. Remembered by Lilli as “a real character”, Dave was "always laughing, joking, and playing practical jokes” with Lilli and her siblings.
“There was nobody else like him,” said Lilli. “And there never will be.”
Sadly, the teenager had only just begun to grapple with her grief when her family experienced another tragic loss.
“It had been really difficult going back to school after Dad died,” said Lilli. “So in December, when I had my second round of GCSE mock exams, I was really trying to focus. I’d been up all night getting ready for my maths mock exam the next day, then my Mum woke me up and said my Nan had died.”
Her nan's death, coming so soon after the loss of her dad, impacted Lilli severely.
She said: “I just couldn’t believe it. I was supposed to call her that day, but now she was gone.”
With the funeral taking place just after Christmas that year, Lilli tried to see the New Year as an opportunity to move forward. But, in a cruel twist, her grandad passed away in March 2025.
“He’d been ill for a long time,” said Lilli. “But we’d gotten a lot closer in the last few months. After my Dad and Nan died I’d started to realise how precious time is, so I’d often go up and see him after school. I was supposed to be seeing him that day, but then my teacher pulled me out of my English mock exam, and I went outside to see my Mum there crying. We had to go up to Grandad’s house and wait for people to take his body away. I didn’t know what to do – I was just numb. The third death in less than a year. I couldn’t believe it.”
Lilli fell into a deep depression, describing how “nothing felt real”. Amidst profound personal upheaval, exacerbated by pressure to succeed at school, a weekly cooking service in Plymouth provided by Co-op and Barnardo’s provided a much-needed distraction - as well as a practical benefit.
“Take Away Tuesdays is all about using surplus food to make easy, affordable, nutritious meals that you can take home to your family,” said Lilli. “With everything that we’d gone through, my Mum was coping with her grief as well. On Tuesdays, cooking dinner became one less thing for her to worry about, because it was something that I could do. It made me feel really good to be able to help out like that. It might not sound like much, but it made a massive difference.”
Devastatingly, Lilli’s family experienced yet another loss when her cousin passed away in July 2025 – marking her fourth bereavement in less than 12 months. Through it all, Lilli praised the Barnardo’s and Co-op service staff for their warmth and openness, and for their support whilst dealing with the ongoing impact of bereavement.
“At first I felt guilty for carrying on going out, seeing friends, even laughing or making jokes,” said Lilli. “But they helped me see that it’s not selfish. My Dad, Nan, Grandad - they wouldn’t want me to hold myself back or stop doing the things I love doing. I personally think I’ve been really blessed to have Take Away Tuesdays through all this. I’d feel horrible if I ever stopped going.”
Her experiences of loss have now prompted Lilli to reconsider her future ambitions.
“I used to think I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up,” she said. “But now I think I’d like to help young people – just like people at the Take Away Tuesdays service have helped me. I don’t know what I would have done without it. If it wasn’t for them there’s no way I’d be confident and capable like I am now. They’ve just given me so much.”
Barnardo’s and Co-op have been working in partnership since May 2023 to support positive futures for young people like Lilli. Co-op colleagues, members and customers have so far raised over £5 million to make services like Take Away Tuesdays possible across the UK.
Jessica Hanson, Barnardo’s & Co-op Children’s Services Manager for Wales and the South West, said: “Lilli’s story is a moving testament to the power and importance of the services we provide, and I’m very proud that we’ve been able to be there for her over the past 12 months. We're grateful to everyone at Co-op for their support in making this possible."
David Luckin, Head of Social Value and Community Engagement at Co-op, said: “Thanks to the incredible commitment of our members, colleagues and customers, we’ve already raised £5 million so far helping over 600,000 young people, like Lilli. We’re now aiming to raise £7 million to support positive futures for 1 million young people across the UK.”
16 August marked the one-year anniversary of Dave’s passing, and Lilli spent the day with family members celebrating his life.
“It sounds silly, but I still talk to him sometimes,” said Lilli. “I’ll ask him what he’s doing and what he thinks about stuff. I don’t know what happens after we die, but I have dreams about him sometimes, and I like to believe that it’s him trying to communicate. At first it was scary, but now I find it comforting. Talking about him like this, it’s how I honour his memory – so I think he’d be very proud.”
To find out more about Co-op and Barnardo’s, please visit www.coop.co.uk/SupportYoungPeople.