The Compassionate Friends was founded in Coventry, England, in 1969, following the deaths of two young boys, Billy Henderson and Kenneth Lawley who died in the spring of 1968. Billy and Kenneth had died just three days apart in the Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital. Rev. Simon Stephens, assistant to the Chaplain, mentioned Billy’s death to Iris and Joe Lawley, and the Lawleys decided to send flowers to Billy’s funeral. They signed the card simply, “Kenneth’s parents,” realizing that the Hendersons would know who they were.

Bill and Joan Henderson then invited the Lawleys over for tea and an immediate bond was formed as the tow couples spoke freely abut their boys, sharing their memories and the dreams that had died with Billy and Kenneth. They continued to get together regularly, and young Rev. Stephens, then only 23, encouraged them to invite other newly bereaved parents to join them. In 199 another grieving mother accepted their invitation to meet with Simon and the two couples. They decided to organize as a self-help group and actively begin reaching to newly bereaved parents in their community. Because the word “compassion” kept coming up, this new organization was called “The Society of the Compassionate Friends.”