Bereaved youngsters give Rio Ferdinand tips on 'being mum and dad'

The former England captain sought their help for his BBC 1 documentary, Being Mum and Dad, which goes on air tonight at 9pm.

In the film, he listens to the young people for advice on how to tackle the subject of bereavement with his children Lorenz, 10, Tate, 8, and Tia, 5, after their mum Rachel died of cancer in 2015.

The young people, aged between 11-25, spoke to him about their experiences around the death of their parent and what had helped them.

They made and presented a selection of posters with tips for Rio which included ‘it’s okay to cry’; ‘it’s important to talk about the person who has died’ and ‘it’s okay to laugh and have fun’.

They also told him that ‘cars are good conversation venues’.

On meeting Rio, Keeley, 15, whose her mum died when she was 8, said: “It was inspirational to meet Rio and to know that he wanted to listen to us so he could help his children.”

In the BBC1 documentary, Rio gives a candid account of the impact of his wife’s death on him and his family, the complexities of his grieving and the challenges of being a widowed parent to his children.

The former England captain has spoken about the difficulties he faced getting his children to talk about their mum.

He says using a memory jar, a method used by the young people at Child Bereavement UK to help them talk about and remember the person who has died, helped his children.

In an interview with the BBC, Rio describes it as turning things ‘from dark to bright.’ Jackie Grant, a youth worker at Child Bereavement UK said: “The memory jar is one of the many activities we suggest to families at Child Bereavement UK, especially when there is a worry about forgetting their special person or children are quite young and are relying on other people’s memories.

“It helps them to collect memories for them to create a picture of what their special person was like. It was wonderful that Rio used this with his children.”