The object of this study is to address a gap in knowledge about the nature of bereavement support provided to adults by hospices in the United Kingdomto describe the purpose, organisation and delivery of such services. In early 2003 a national postal survey was conducted amongst coordinators or "lead" personnel of these services (n=301). The questionnaire was structured so as to explore three dimensions of service provision: support activities, referral and assessment procedures and personnel. A mixture of "open" and "closed" questions was used. The response rate was 83 per cent (n=249). The majority of respondents were from services in England (80%, n=199). Over a third of respondents had a nursing qualification (36%, n=89) and nearly a quarter a social work qualification (23%, n=58). Most bereavement services were connected with inpatient hospice services (82%, n=205). Some bereavement support activities, for example, one-to-one support (95%, n=237) were more likely to be offered than others, for example, drop-in support (43%, n=107). Volunteers were involved in two-thirds of all services (68%, n=169) although collaboration with paid staff was the norm. The majority of services offered training to bereavement workers (63%, n=157). However, a significant minority of services (13%, n=33) did not offer supervision to paid workers. Many of the adult bereavement services surveyed appear to share common features such as the activities on offer, organisational context and the intrinsic role of volunteers with paid staff in delivery of bereavement support. The absence of opportunities in some services for paid staff to receive supervision highlights an unexpected group of "vulnerable" people.