A GRIEVING mother has reflected on the work being done to protect children four years after her teenage daughter took her own life.

On February 14 2021, 15-year-old Honey Cook took her own life after being the victim of relentless and cruel online abuse.

Understandably, the shocking loss shattered her mother Gemma Bentley’s life and for years she struggled with mental health issues and searched for support.

Years later and the resilient 38-year-old from Mapplewell has started her own charity in Honey’s honour - called Bee Kind for Honey - and is working tirelessly to protect other youngsters and help people suffering the same type of unimaginable grief she did.

“The plan was never to set up my own charity,” she told the Chronicle.

“I wanted to raise money for Mind so at first we were just going to do a fundraising festival.

“But it snowballed from there - now I’m helping more people and receiving more emails from people saying how much it’s helped.

“The worst thing you can do is sit and think about what’s happened - this is why I’m doing it, I’ll do all I can to make other people’s lives better.

“I’d do anything to get Honey back, but the reason I shared her story is because I don’t want anyone else to go through what we did.”

The charity offers emotional support to young people, including journals that help teenagers put their emotions down onto the page, and sessions in schools where Gemma interacts with students.

Recently she’s also began providing help to people who’ve lost a loved one to suicide, creating grief boxes that have been delivered to police stations that can be handed out to those receiving the devastating news.

Gemma added: “Inside there’s information about the emotions people go through - I want people to know how they feel is normal.

“There’s also details on financial support and funerals for people under 18.

“We’ve made enough of everything for 50 boxes and I’m hoping I’ll not have to make anymore.

“Hopefully they’ll just sit there gathering dust.”

Since Honey’s death, more attention has been placed on protecting children, especially online.

In 2023, the Online Safety Act was introduced, which puts responsibilities on social media companies and digital platforms to stamp out harmful content.

Part of the law also includes making it a criminal offence to encourage or assist in serious self-harm - the offence carries up to five years in prison.

On the anniversary of her daughter’s death, Gemma said she’s still heartbroken when she thinks about what happened, but hopes things will improve.

“I think the build up to the day is worse than the actual day.

“Everyday I feel grief and pain.

“I know there’s a petition to raise the minimum age for social media use.

“There’s a fine line between being overprotective and watching out for what your children are doing online.

“I think it needs to be more about enforcing rules, saying that ‘if you do this, this could happen to you’.

“When Honey first died I was so, so angry.

“But as I matured through my grief I realised I wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone else - I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

Support services for those struggling with these issues can be found here: https://www.samaritans.org/scotland/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/