Grief campaigner who set up cafés for bereaved families is found dead on the Cornish beach where her son died

Charmaine Lyn George, 52, a grief campaigner from Islington who won the Caroline Flack Mental Health Hero Award in 2021, was found dead at Portreath beach on Cornwall's north coast on October 5 by a member of the public who raised a welfare concern. She had previously described the spot — beneath Lighthouse Hill — as her son Ewan's 'happy place'. An inquest opened in Truro on October 22 was adjourned by assistant coroner Guy Davies, with a full inquest expected next year.

Ewan George, 18, died along the same stretch of coastline in May 2020; he had gone camping there with friends, and his body was found at the foot of the cliffs the following morning.

The coroner who presided over Ewan's inquest determined there was insufficient evidence to establish that he had died by suicide; police are not treating Charmaine's death as suspicious.

The Good Grief Trust said Charmaine was 'passionate to help others find vital support', even as she carried the pain of her own son's death.