Latest news with #bereavement
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Tulisa pulls out of Pride event after her famous father Steve Contostavlos dies
Tulisa has pulled out of a Pride event after her father and renowned musician Steve Contostavlos passed away earlier this week. Known as Plato, the keyboard player, played for the band Mungo Jerry and was thought to be around 65 years old. And now Tulisa has revealed she will be stepping back from work commitments as she comes to terms with the loss. The N-Dubz star was due to perform at The Clapham Grand on Saturday night, however on Wednesday the venue took to Instagram as they confirmed she will no longer be part of the lineup. They penned: 'PRIDE UPDATE... We are sorry to announce that due to a family bereavement, Tulisa will understandably no longer be joining us for our Pride After Party on Saturday. 'We are sending Tulisa and her family all of our love. ❤️ We will be announce a new special guest later today and look forward to welcoming you all to our Pride Parties this Saturday.' Tulisa marked his passing on Tuesday as she posted a childhood image showing her snuggling with her dad and the words: 'Love you pops, rest in peace. Forever my father's daughter' On Tuesday Tulia took to Instagram on Tuesday to share an emotional tribute for her late dad as she posted a childhood image of the pair snuggled up together. She penned: 'Love you pops, rest in peace. Forever my father's daughter.' The singer's heartfelt post was met with a plethora of sympathetic messages from her showbiz pals and followers. Heartbroken Dappy, 38, also previously shared the sad news as he posted a video of himself with his uncle, alongside a white dove. Tulisa commented on the post with a broken heart emoji and Dappy, real name Costadinos Contostavlos, wrote: 'I'm so sorry T.' It is not known how Plato passed away. In 2024, Tulisa opened up about her unconventional relationship with her father. She told Paul C Brunson on his We Need To Talk podcast: 'Me and my dad's relationship has not been a conventional one. Heartbroken Dappy [L], also previously shared the sad news as he posted a video of himself with his uncle, alongside a white dove [the pair pictured with N-Dubz bandmate Fazer in 2023] Tulisa's heartfelt post was met with a plethora of sympathetic messages from her showbiz pals and followers 'I would say me and my dad now we're just more friends that kind of have an understanding of one another.' Meanwhile, she spoke of her dad's influence on her musical career during a chat on Ferne Cotton's Happy Place podcast. She shared: 'My dad had a little studio in Dollis Hill and he used to bring me there sometimes when he was working. He put me on the mic at the age of five. I was singing Little Mermaid. 'I just knew there was nothing else I felt passionate about.' That same year, I'm A Celebrity fans were stunned to discover her father was also famous. They were surprised to discover her dad was a keyboard player from the band Mungo Jerry. The rock group was formed by Ray Dorset in 1970 and they were famed for their hit In The Summertime. Tulisa's uncle - her bandmate Dappy 's father - Byron was the bassist for the band and later became the manager of N-Dubz. Commenting on her musical heritage, fans wrote: 'Did you know that Tulisa and Dappy's uncle was in Mungo Jerry of In The Summertime fame?' 'I did not know that Tulisa Contostavlos' dad was the keyboard player in Mungo Jerry.' 'Little piece of trivia. Tulisa's father and uncle were in the band Mungo Jerry.' The Contostavlos family left Africa in the Seventies and moved to London where they lived in a six-bedroom house in leafy Brondesbury, with Tulisa's grandfather a senior diplomat with the United Nations. After touring the world with Mungo Jerry, Plato returned to London. He got together with Tulisa's mother, Ann Byrne, in 1984, and Tulisa was born four years later. A talented singer and impressionist, Ann enjoyed fleeting success with her sisters Louisa, Paula and Moira in 1980s swing band Jeep. There was also an appearance on short-lived talent show Go For It, in which she performed as Hollywood screen icon Marilyn Monroe. Unbeknown to Plato, however, Ann had suffered a mental breakdown two years before they met. Later diagnosed as a schizoaffective disorder, the condition was triggered again when Tulisa was two and Ann began suffering from hallucinations. Ann's condition continued to deteriorate, meaning she spent regular periods in the psychiatric unit at the nearby Royal Free Hospital. It was a devastating time for the family, with Plato looking after Tulisa on his own and his daughter unable at first to understand why her mother was not at home. The couple split up when Tulisa was 10. After the break-up, Plato moved in with his parents at their £1.2 million five-bedroom house in West Hampstead, while Tulisa stayed with her mother. The singer was thrust into the role of primary carer for her mum who battled a combination of bipolar and schizophrenia. Back in 2012, Plato told how he taught Tulisa to stand up for herself after she faced relentless bullying in school over her mother's mental illness. He told the Sunday Mirror: 'My daughter was horribly bullied. It was awful. Children would scream, "Your mum's a loony". Tulisa was about five years old when it first started. She would come home crying all the time. 'In the end I had to tell her, 'I can't go and sort this problem out for you. This is the kind of thing you are going to face in life and you have to stand up for yourself'. 'Then one day when she was about seven, after I had trained her for about six months, she came back from school and said, "Dad I knocked one of them out. You were right Dad, I did it". It had to be done, the misery that child went through at school was unbelievable. Every time she went in she was terrified.'
The Sun
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Devastated Tulisa pulls out of Pride event after famous dad's tragic death
HEARTBROKEN star Tulisa has pulled out of a Pride event after her famous dad's tragic death. Yesterday pop star Tulisa shared the sad news that her father Plato Kontostavlos, a keyboard player, who was known as Steve, had passed away. 3 He was well loved within the music scene during the 1970s, as part of the blues band Mungo Jerry. And today it has been announced that Tulisa will be taking a step back from her work commitments to grieve the huge loss. The singer was set to perform at The Grand Clapham to celebrate Pride on Saturday - but understandably won't be taking part now. The venue told fans on their official X account, writing: "Pride update. We are sorry to announce that due to a family bereavement, Tulisa will understandably no longer be joining us for our Pride After Party on Saturday." On Tuesday, Tulisa took to her Instagram page to post an emotional tribute. She shared a childhood image showing her snuggling with her dad and the words: "Love you pops, rest in peace. "Forever my father's daughter." Heartbroken rapper Dappy, who was in N-Dubz with his cousin Tulisa, also shared the sad news as he posted a video of himself with his uncle, alongside a white dove. I'm A Celeb star Tulisa commented on the post with a broken heart emoji and Dappy replied: 'I'm so sorry T.' N-Dubz star Dappy posts video with Tulisa's dad - his uncle Plato Speaking last year about her father, she said on Paul Brunson's podcast We Need To Talk: 'Me and my dad's relationship has not been a conventional one. "I would say me and my dad now we're just more friends that kind of have an understanding of one another." Plato's band Mungo Jerry gained massive success after landing the Number 1 hit In The Summertime in 1970. Other hits from the band include Lady Rose and Alright, Alright, Alright. Plato played the keyboard alongside his brother Byron - who is Tulisa's uncle and Dappy's father - who was on bass guitar. Tragically Byron died in the early days of N-Dubz in 2007. The pair were reportedly in the band during its early days. Speaking about her dad's influence on her career, Tulisa said: "My dad had a little studio in Dollis Hill and he used to bring me there sometimes when he was working. "He put me on the mic at the age of five. I was singing Little Mermaid. "I just knew there was nothing else I felt passionate about." The star has told in the past how her dad left her mum, Anne Byrne, when she was nine years old. Tulisa became her mum's primary carer at the tender age of 11.
BBC News
a day ago
- Health
- BBC News
Covid Inquiry: Workmen entered care homes without protective gear
A woman who was refused entry to see her dying mother in a County Armagh care home during the Covid-19 pandemic has expressed her shock at seeing delivery drivers and workmen coming and going freely without any protective McCusker told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry she offered to wear full personal protective equipment (PPE) to visit her mother Bridget Halligan, even from an outside courtyard, but staff denied her April 2020, she made several requests to be with her 95-year-old mother after she contracted Covid-19, only to be later told that she had died alone in her government has said it is committed to learning lessons from the inquiry. Scant information Mrs McCusker, who gave evidence on behalf of the Northern Ireland Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said she encountered several staff at the home who were not wearing told the inquiry her mother had been relatively active but had to go into the home following several home was closed to visits on 18 March 2020 and Mrs McCusker said she was concerned that her mother "would go downhill" if she did not see her said relatives received scant information from the home and were not allowed to bring Mrs Halligan any food. They had raised concerns that she was a "poor eater" and needed nourishment because she did not eat much of the food served in the McCusker said her mother was confused over why her daughter was only able to see her through a window on Mother's Day and that there was no staff member with her to explain why she could not enter the care home. She also criticised the lack of communication from the care home about her mother's welfare. When Mrs Halligan died, her family were refused permission to see her body or to "say their last goodbyes", Mrs McCusker told the 10 people were permitted at the funeral and there was no wake."To sum it up, if I was trying to think of what my mother would have made of it, she would have been absolutely shocked to think that in her dying days and moments she never saw a family member," said Mrs McCusker."She was totally reliant on the limited number of staff that were there. Try as I might, I can't imagine what went through her mind."She added: "If they (the care home) were following guidelines, I don't understand any guideline that keeps a family member out from a dying parent in their last hours."If they didn't get in during Covid - that was bad enough. But end of life care to me is a human right. It is a right to be able to see your parent, sibling, whoever would be in a nursing home."The inquiry began examining the care sector on Monday as part of its scrutiny into how the response to the pandemic was was launched by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in June 2022, more than a year after he said the government's actions would be put "under the microscope".
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Concern over law which would see separated parents lose widow's pension rights
A bereaved TD has described her shock at planned changes to the widow's pension which, she said, would have left her and her daughter in financial hardship had they been in place when her former husband died. People Before Profit's Ruth Coppinger was teaching part-time when her daughter's father died last year. 'We were married for 14 years and had a maintenance agreement written into our separation agreement. I was reliant on that,' said Ms Coppinger. When her former husband died suddenly,Ms Coppinger worried about their financial security without his support. READ MORE Divorced or legally separated co-parents have been entitled to the widow's, or widower's, pension for almost 30 years – since the 1995 divorce referendum. The weekly rate is up to €249.50 for those aged under 66 and €289.30 for those aged 66 and older, with increases of €50 for each dependent child under 12 and €62 for each child aged 12 and older. 'It was such a relief, financially and mentally, to know I would get the widow's pension, that I would have that for my daughter,' Ms Coppinger said. Planned changes, however, would see parents in her situation excluded from entitlement to the pension. The Bereaved Partner's Pension Bill , expected to complete its passage through the Dáil on Wednesday, will remove entitlement to the pension from bereaved co-parents with the loss of hundreds of euro a week for them and their children, according to one legal charity. The Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac) is to brief Oireachtas members on its concerns about the Bill on Tuesday. The new law is to give effect to last year's Supreme Court judgment in the O'Meara case which ruled the exclusion of John O'Meara, a bereaved, unmarried father of three, from entitlement to the widower's contributory pension scheme was unconstitutional. It found the rules around access to the pension breached the guarantee of equality in the Constitution by refusing it to a bereaved unmarried parent with exactly the same obligations to their children as a bereaved married parent. While the new law extends entitlement to bereaved cohabiting parents, it stipulates they must be in a committed, intimate relationship and living together at the time of bereavement. It removes the entitlement of those who married the deceased parent of their children, but are divorced or separated from them when they die. The new law will not affect current recipients. The existing scenario, in which divorced or legally separated co-parents are entitled to the pension, has been an 'important protection' against poverty for children where the death of a parent meant the loss of maintenance, Flac has said. Karen Kiernan, chief executive of the support charity One Family, said a 'very small number' of divorced or separated people claim a survivor's pension. 'We see no basis for removing their entitlement,' she said. 'It is highly concerning that the potential financial impact ... on this group does not seem to have been considered by the Department in what is otherwise a very positive piece of legislation.' Damien Peelo, chief executive of lone-parent advocacy organisation Treoir, said the bill risked 'replacing one inequality with another' by excluding divorced or separated parents. 'Grieving children deserve equal treatment, regardless of their parents' relationship status,' he said. Ms Coppinger said the law would 'plunge households into poverty' and could see some children facing 'homelessness on top of grief' if their surviving parent could not pay their rent or mortgage. A Department of Social Protection spokesman said the O'Meara judgment had raised 'a range of complex matters. 'The Bill has been developed to ensure that the principle of equality in the treatment of potential beneficiaries is upheld both in relation to eligibility for the payment and the rules on the loss of entitlement when a relationship ends,' he said. 'The representation that this amounts to discrimination against single parents is incorrect.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Ohio's Hospice to hold Always My Child - Parent Grief bereavement workshop July 14
Ohio's Hospice invites community members to participate in the Always My Child-Parent Grief bereavement workshop 5:30-6:45 p.m. Monday, July 14, at the Ohio's Hospice Marilyn B. and Mark E. Gustafson Center for Supportive Care, 1900 Akron Road, Wooster. The workshop will address the unique challenges faced by parents and families experiencing grief. Participants will learn about keys to family reorganization after loss and elements that promote healing within the family unit. David Hargrave, LSW, CCTP, CGCS, bereavement counseling professional with Ohio's Hospice, will lead the workshop. Hargrave brings experience and expertise in supporting children, adolescents and adults through their grief journeys. "Losing a child is one of life's most profound losses," Hargrave said. "This workshop provides a supportive environment where grieving parents and families can learn practical strategies for navigating their grief while honoring their child's memory." The workshop is offered through Pathways of Hope, Ohio's Hospice's grief counseling program. Through community support, Ohio's Hospice provides this and other grief support programs free of charge to anyone in the community, regardless of whether they have received hospice services. Registration is required. To register, call 800.884.6547, Opiont 6, or email PathwaysOfHope@ Include name, the workshop name and date, and phone more information about Pathways of Hope and bereavement workshops, visit This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Ohio's Hospice holding bereavement workshop for parents who lost child
