I’m Stephen, also known as Professor Green. I’ve been speaking a lot about grief lately - the grief of losing my dad and my nan. The thing about grieving is, it never stops. It’s something you learn is part of life once you’ve encountered death.

I realised when talking about this that it's something we aren't used in the UK. I put a call out for people to share photos of themselves with someone they’ve lost, using the hashtag # wishthatitookmorephotographsof us. The overwhelming and emotional response I got made me realise we desperately need to talk more about grief.

I find it hard to believe we have had no other way of connecting our experiences of grief, no day on which we can celebrate the lives of those we mourn to remind us it’s okay to grieve, to stop us internalising our grief and sweeping it under the carpet until it manifests in a far more ugly way.

That’s why I’m calling for a National Grief Awareness Day.

This day will be an opportunity to call for more support and education around grief, and to give people a chance to remember and celebrate the lives of lost loved ones. It exists in the US already - there’s no reason we can’t do the same here.

Christmas can be an extremely difficult time of year, when loved ones have been lost and feel more absent than ever. We are calling on the government commit to doing this by Christmas, and for the day itself to be around this time too.

This petition is being backed by Cruse, the bereavement charity who offer support when someone dies.