With churches closed and the coronavirus lockdown firmly in place, the UK faces a very different Easter this year. More and more people each day experience the sudden loss of a friend or family member.  Others fear deeply for loved ones who are elderly or vulnerable. 

So how does the Easter story of death and resurrection help at this traumatic time, indeed does it help at all?  In this edition of Things Unseen, Emily Buchanan talks to two remarkable women who have survived terrible sudden bereavement: 

Margaret Pritchard Houston, who lost two baby boys, both of them still-born. She now works for the Church of England as a Children’s Ministry Adviser. 

Maria Ahern, a barrister whose 22-year-old son James died in a car crash six years ago.   From a Greek Orthodox background, she has been closely involved in The Compassionate Friends, a support network for bereaved parents.

Can their experience enable others to cope better, with the loss of a child or the current crisis? And when the chips are down, how can faith help those who have lost a loved one find new hope?