CHARITY SPECIAL FEATURE OF THE MONTH

ON a grey morning in March 2025, Lee Barnett pressed send on the email no charity chief ever wants to write.

Sandy Bear Children’s Bereavement Charity – one of only two specialist services for grieving children in the whole of Wales – was just a few months from closing its doors for good.

“We were staring at the end,” Barnett says. “We knew families needed us more than ever. We also knew the money had simply run out.”

Across Britain, thousands of charities are limping through the same cost-of-living storm. For Sandy Bear the stakes were uniquely cruel: stop the service and hundreds of Welsh children bereaved by suicide, addiction or sudden death would be left with nothing.

This is the story of how Wales refused to let that happen.

Born from heartbreak

Sandy Bear began life inside the NHS. When health-board cuts killed the original service, a handful of staff and volunteers would not let it die. They rebuilt it, pound by pound, because they had seen what happens to children when no one catches them.

One parent later wrote: “Sandy Bear was the string that stitched our hearts back together and made it possible to smile again.”

For many families, that line is not poetry. It is survival.

A perfect storm

2025 hit the charity from every angle.

Referrals doubled post-pandemic to more than 100 a month. Over half the children had lost someone to suicide; another 20% to drugs or alcohol. The sharpest rise was among six- to fifteen-year-olds.

At the same time, grants dried up, inflation hammered running costs, and exhausted staff carried impossible caseloads. Waiting lists lengthened. The board took the agonising decision to lose a handful of posts.

“It felt like we were choosing which children we could help,” Barnett says.

Then Wales stepped up

What happened next stunned even the people inside the building.

Village halls filled with cake sales. Runners pounded pavements in Sandy Bear vests. Skydivers leapt for the cause. Town and community councils in Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Swansea sent emergency cheques that – in the charity’s own words – “literally kept the lights on”.

Businesses followed: Valero, Ascona Group, Young Farmers Clubs, Haverfordwest County AFC. Footballer Joe Allen visited the centre and posed for photos with children who had lost parents.

Politicians of every stripe turned up too. Plaid Cymru’s Ben Lake, Labour’s Henry Tufnell and Eluned Morgan, Conservatives Sam Kurtz and Paul Davies – rivals who rarely agree – stood shoulder to shoulder in briefing rooms and on site visits, sounding the alarm in Westminster and the Senedd.

“It was the most united I’ve ever seen Welsh politics on anything,” says business development manager Martin Jones.

The hidden £20 million payback

Sandy Bear runs on roughly £500,000 a year – loose change in government terms.

Independent analysis values its work at more than £20 million annually in prevented costs: fewer family breakdowns, fewer addictions, fewer youth suicide attempts, fewer kids excluded from school, fewer A&E dashes and police call-outs.

Most of that saving never makes the headlines, because the crises never happen.

From red to resilient

By autumn the haemorrhage had stopped. New funding streams opened. Staff rewrote support models. Waiting lists began, slowly, to shrink.

“We survived,” Barnett says, “because our communities refused to let us fall.”

But the crisis is not over

Demand is still climbing. The charity must raise half a million pounds every single year just to stand still. More than 80p in every pound donated reaches the frontline.

And childhood bereavement is not going away. If anything, the causes – suicide, overdose, sudden death – are rising.

The team at Sandy Bear want Wales to face a hard truth: grief itself is not the enemy. Unsupported grief is.

A quiet ask for 2026

As Christmas approaches, the charity’s final message of 2025 is deliberately low-key.

They thank every runner, every donor, every councillor, every MP, every child who sold cakes outside the school gate.

And then they ask – without drama – for the help to continue.

A tenner a month. A share on social media. A volunteer afternoon. A conversation with your MS or MP.

Because, as they gently remind us:

“Liking, sharing and commenting costs nothing, but it genuinely helps save lives.”

This Christmas, hold your loved ones close.

Somewhere in Wales tonight, a child who cannot do that is still hoping someone will help them find their way back to the light.

And in 2025, Wales proved it could be that someone.

ST JOHN AMBULANCE CYMRU recently welcomed representatives from the West Wales Freemasons to learn more about the Community Support Unit their donation has helped purchase as part of a visit to the charity’s Divisional building in Carmarthen.

The West Wales Freemasons kindly donated £20,000 towards the purchase of the vehicle, which is being used to support the charity’s work to provide first aid support across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, as well as further afield for events of national significance.

In addition to being equipped with a range of first aid equipment, as well as a gazebo, tables and chairs to support visibility at events, the specially adapted vehicle also has space for six St John People and is equipped with facilities to support volunteer welfare.

As well as being shown the various features of the Community Support Unit, the West Wales Masons were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and were thanked by Trustee Prof. Jean White CBE as well as local St John Ambulance Cymru volunteers, staff and members of the St John Council for Dyfed.

The first aid charity for Wales has purchased over 15 of the vehicles to support its work to provide first aid cover at a range of events large and small across the country.

Head of Fundraising and Communications for St John Ambulance Cymru, Owen Thomas said: “This event was a valuable opportunity to show our generous donors from the West Wales Freemasons the real difference we are making in local communities thanks to their continued support.

“As well as providing our St John People with everything they need to provide first aid at an event, these vehicles also provide the facilities that enable them to have a hot drink and warm food, as well as shelter from the temperamental Welsh weather.”

The latest support from the West Wales Masons follows the donation made in 2024 to support the purchase of an ambulance vehicle.

James Ross, Head of West Wales Freemasons said: “We are delighted to have been able to see the tangible impact our support is having on the ground, supporting St John volunteers as they care for others.

“We are proud to support St John Ambulance Cymru’s work in West Wales to provide first aid for those in need and to help more people learn the skills that could save a life.”

To find our more about St John Ambulance Cymru’s work across Wales and how you can donate or get involved, visit www.sjacymru.org.uk.

Community funds provide 40 fleeces and 30 polo shirts for charity’s events crew

PAUL SARTORI Hospice at Home has received a £1,000 donation from the South Hook LNG Community Fund, managed by PAVS, enabling the charity to purchase 40 branded fleeces for its expanding team of event volunteers. It follows a recent contribution from the Port of Milford Haven Community Fund, which funded 30 branded polo shirts.

Volunteers are at the heart of Paul Sartori’s work, supporting community fundraising events across Pembrokeshire throughout the year – including the New Year’s Day Dip, Kilgetty Bike It, the Pembrokeshire Car Runs, the Pembrokeshire County Show and the annual That’ll Be The Day concert at Folly Farm.

The new fleeces will ensure volunteers are easily identifiable, warm and professionally presented while representing the charity. The purchase also meets a clear operational need, with the charity previously unable to supply enough uniform for its growing team.

“We are delighted to equip our volunteers with additional uniform,” said Jo Lutwyche, Event and Fundraising Officer at Paul Sartori. “Many have expressed a willingness to purchase their own polo shirts and fleeces, which shows their enthusiasm and commitment – but Paul Sartori believes volunteers should be provided with a uniform as recognition of their vital contribution.”

Judith Williams, Grant Development Officer, added: “We are hugely grateful to the South Hook LNG Community Fund for their ongoing support. Our event volunteers are the heart of our fundraising efforts, and these fleeces will help keep them comfortable, safe and professional, whatever the weather. This is a wonderful way to recognise their dedication to Paul Sartori Hospice at Home.”

The project aligns closely with South Hook LNG’s core funding themes: improving safety by ensuring volunteers are clearly identifiable; supporting environmental responsibility with reusable, shareable uniforms; promoting education through a professional public-facing appearance; and enhancing wellbeing by boosting team spirit and volunteer confidence.

South Hook LNG has been a regular supporter of the charity, and this latest donation continues a valued partnership that helps Paul Sartori deliver essential end-of-life care services across Pembrokeshire.

The charity offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities, both within its events team and across its network of county-wide charity shops. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Eleanor Evans, Volunteering Officer, via Paul Sartori’s head office.

Paul Sartori Hospice at Home provides nursing care, equipment loans, complementary therapies and bereavement support to people in the last stages of life, helping ensure they can remain at home with dignity and comfort. For more information, visit www.paulsartori.org or call 01437 763223.