A project manager from Network Rail has written a children’s book, which was read live across the country to help children suffering from bereavement.

Matt Dawkings works for Network Rail as part of the West Coast South route team. Back in 2021, he lost his wife Chan rather suddenly due to an undetected health condition, which left his young daughter Issie without a mum.

Following Chan’s passing, Issie was suffering, and Matt searched online for books that a child can understand on the issue of bereavement. Having found there were none suitable for Issy’s age range, he took it upon himself to write his own book for his daughter.

Matt wrote a book called ‘Alba and the Sunshine’ which tells the story of a young girl called Alba who travels and explores the world after losing her sunshine. The book follows Alba as she goes through feelings and emotions of being scared, loneliness and grief in a way children can relate to, if they have lost a loved one at a young age.

The book was released in 2024, and Matt was asked if he would do a live-streaming reading of the book for Learn Live, a youth organisation.

The live reading was also available to school teachers and was used as a way for approaching and covering the topic of bereavement in the classroom. As the live streaming began, over 45,000 children watched Matt read his book.

The video can still be found on the Learn Live website and is considered a must for parents and teachers if they have or know children who are suffering from bereavement.

“I was really surprised and excited when I was asked to do this and to think that more than 45,000 children saw it is just amazing. 

I hope that the book can help families who are going through these incredibly difficult times.”