IT APPEARS the fate of the Sandy Bear bereavement service was already sealed, around a week before fears over its future became public.

The grief service - based in Neyland - closes its doors tomorrow (Friday), despite a 4,000-strong petition to save it.

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made by this paper reveal that Sandy Bear staff were told on March 17 about the decision, which followed a £44,500 cut in funding from Pembrokeshire County Council.

But it was not until April 13 that the health board confirmed a closure date of June 2016.

On March 24, Hywel Dda Health Board – which delivered the service - said it was still “undertaking a review of the current provision of bereavement services in Pembrokeshire”.

This included “discussions with the council around the options for continuation of the Sandy Bear service”.

A statement from Pembrokeshire County Council issued that day also stressed “a final decision has not yet been taken” and that “options for the future of the service” were still being considered.

Up until April 11, the county council maintained that a final decision had not been taken.

An email from James White, Head of Performance and Community for Children and Schools, to the council's chief executive Ian Westley said there was "financial difficulty" as funding from the Welsh and UK Governments had been cut by £235,000 over the last 12 months.

But Mr White said the council was still considering "options for the future", as put forward by the health board.

Yet emails between the health board and council on March 7 see a council employee confirming that the council had decided not to re-commission Sandy Bear, as the "emotional element" of any loss would be provided by school counselling service.

Alternative support

The county council has said alternative support for children and young people is available through school counselling services, and it has developed a new role of Emotional and Learning Support Assistants in schools – with 63 staff having received this training so far.

But a health board report into possible changes to the Emotional Health and Wellbeing service highlighted that decommissioning the Sandy Bear service increased the risk of a lack of provision for children aged 0-5 years, and those not in education, as alternative services could only be accessed in schools.

Local mum's petition

In an attempt to save Sandy Bear, local mum Nina Evans set up an online petition.

The service helped support Nina’s five-year-old son George, following the death of her husband in 2011.

Nina said she was “totally gutted and heartbroken” the service would be lost, adding: “I think a massive error has been made in making this awful decision.

“I truly believe they have not had a full report on the consequence this will have.”

Milford Mercury:

South Pembrokeshire MP Simon Hart said: "I am so sorry that this fantastic service will be closing its doors for the last time.

"So many families, often in the worst of crises, have relied on the care and compassion of the staff.

"The fact that it would appear that the decision was taken somewhat earlier than we were lead to believe only makes the decision even more difficult to comprehend.”    

A family fun day to celebrate 17 years of Sandy Bear will take place at The Plough Inn, Sageston, on Saturday, July 2.