Charity

Sandy Bear in 2025: The year Wales refused to let childhood grief win

Published

5 months ago

December 3, 2025

Tom Sinclair

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.

**Martin Jones and First Minister Eluned Morga**n

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.

***Sandy Bear Haverfordwest County Partnership***

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.

***Footballer Joe Allen Visiting Bereaved child, Connor Bishop***

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.”

***Henry Tufnell MP*** ***showing his support to Sandy Bear on a video call with*** ***Martin Jones***

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.

***Sandy Bear Senior Management Team – Martin Jones, Karen Codd and Lee Barnett, the CEO***

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.

**Ben Lake MP** ***on a video call with*** ***Martin Jones***

Charity

New leadership for Fishguard RNLI station

Published

2 hours ago

April 28, 2026

Tom Sinclair

CATHY BEATON has been appointed as the new Lifeboat Operations Manager at Fishguard RNLI, taking on the most senior operational volunteer role at the station.

Mrs Beaton, who joined the station management team in August 2024 as a volunteer Launch Authority, succeeds long-serving volunteer Chris Williams following his retirement.

The role of Lifeboat Operations Manager involves leading the station’s operations team, supporting volunteers, ensuring regular communication across the station, and keeping the lifeboat and its equipment in a constant state of readiness.

The post also includes close liaison with local emergency services and representing the RNLI in operational matters.

Working with other RNLI personnel, the Lifeboat Operations Manager helps ensure that volunteers and staff meet the requirements of the RNLI Operational Competency Framework, which is designed to keep crews safe when they go to sea.

Mrs Beaton brings considerable experience in people management and dealing with difficult situations, having worked for 40 years in nursing with the NHS.

She said: “Throughout those years I was committed to giving the best service possible to my patients and to the teams with whom I worked. I will do the same in this role.

“I love being part of the RNLI team. I see the Lifeboat Operations Manager role as a way in which I can be more involved with the charity, which I am very happy to do, and I look forward to working more closely with the highly committed and highly skilled team at the station.”

Fishguard RNLI said it was delighted that Mrs Beaton had taken up the role, adding that during her time with the station she had shown the charity’s core values of being trustworthy, courageous, selfless and dependable.

A station spokesperson said: “We look forward to this new chapter in the station’s history under Cathy’s leadership.”

Photo caption: New role: Cathy Beaton has been appointed volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager at Fishguard RNLI (Pic: RNLI/Gemma Gill).

Charity

Slipway Ukes raise £1,514 for Paul Sartori Hospice at Home

Published

10 hours ago

April 28, 2026

Tom Sinclair

COMMUNITY MUSICIANS COME TOGETHER FOR CHARITY NIGHT IN SAUNDERSFOOT

THE SLIPWAY Ukes have raised a phenomenal £1,514.01 for the Paul Sartori Foundation following a charity gig in Saundersfoot.

The much-anticipated event took place at Regency Hall on Saturday (Mar 28), with support from Saundersfoot Rotary Club.

The ukulele group were joined on the night by local band Footbridge and community choir Pembrokeshire Pop Voices, creating a lively evening of music, food and fundraising.

Pembrokeshire Pop Voices also performed their current charity single, Love the Bones of You, which is raising money directly for the foundation. The choir is due to perform the song again at Voices at the Castle, taking place at Pembroke Castle on Saturday, June 13.

The Slipway Ukes have a long history of supporting Paul Sartori Hospice at Home, having raised significant sums for the charity through community events over the years.

Rosie-Faye Hart, Community Relationship Officer for the Paul Sartori Foundation, said: “Support through fantastic community events like these not only contributes to local culture and live entertainment, but also brings people together to raise money for a cause that impacts the lives of so many in Pembrokeshire.”

The evening was described as warm and buzzing, with guests enjoying food from local producers The Copper Hog and Saundersfoot Rotary Club, while dancing and tapping their feet to Footbridge’s upbeat set and the Slipway Ukes’ energetic performance.

The night ended with The Slipway Ukes, Footbridge and Pembrokeshire Pop Voices combining their talents for a joint performance.

The Paul Sartori Foundation is encouraging more musicians, artists and performing groups to get involved and support the charity in creative ways.

Donations help the hospice-at-home service ensure that people in Pembrokeshire do not have to face the end of life without the care, support and equipment they need.

Anyone who would like to organise a performance or fundraising event for the charity can contact Rosie-Faye Hart on 07584 684171 or email [email protected].

Paul Sartori Hospice at Home was established in memory of Father Paul Sartori, a much-loved local priest who recognised the need for hospice care in Pembrokeshire before his death from cancer at the age of 39.

The charity supports people with any life-limiting condition, not only cancer, and provides care to people of any faith or no faith. It operates an open referral system, with referrals coming from patients, families, friends, district nurses, palliative care specialists and hospital staff.

Charity

Wales Air Ambulance appeals for support as aviation fuel costs soar

Published

1 week ago

April 21, 2026

Tom Sinclair

THE WALES AIR AMBULANCE charity is urging the public to continue their support after a sharp rise in aviation fuel prices linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Even if the conflict were to end in the coming days, the Charity warns it would still face additional costs of around £50,000 due to sustained increases in global fuel prices.

Every day, Wales Air Ambulance crews respond to some of the most serious medical emergencies across the country, reaching people who are critically ill or seriously injured. Missions often involve long-distance flights, with medics travelling to patients before transferring them to specialist hospitals in Wales or England for urgent treatment.

Wales Air Ambulance pilot Captain James Gardiner said: “Every time we take off, we know someone on the ground is relying on us during one of the worst moments of their life. Fuel isn’t just a cost for us – it’s what allows us to take A&E-standard care to patients wherever they are in Wales, and then take them to the most appropriate specialist centre for their needs.

“When fuel prices rise this sharply, it has a real impact. The support we receive from the public genuinely helps keep us flying, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who makes this service possible.”

Since the start of the conflict in the Middle East, the Charity has seen a significant increase in fuel costs, coinciding with a seasonal rise in air ambulance demand. Spring and summer typically bring longer daylight hours and improved flying conditions, leading to increased operational activity.

The Charity is asking supporters to consider donating – however small – to help offset these exceptional costs and ensure crews can continue to respond when they are needed most.

Wales Air Ambulance is consultant-led, bringing hospital-standard treatments directly to patients and, where necessary, transferring them to the most appropriate hospital for their condition. The service is delivered through a unique partnership between the third sector and the NHS.

It relies on public donations to raise the £13 million required each year to keep helicopters in the air and rapid response vehicles on the road.

The Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) provides highly skilled NHS consultants and critical care practitioners who work alongside the Charity’s crews. This advanced level of care includes the ability to administer anaesthesia, deliver blood transfusions and perform minor surgical procedures at the scene of an incident.

As a pan-Wales service, crews travel across the country to deliver emergency, lifesaving care wherever it is needed.

Dr Barnes said: “The war in the Middle East has created an unexpected and, we hope, temporary challenge. Rising fuel costs are a serious issue for air ambulance charities across the UK and reflect global factors beyond our control.

“Global fuel markets do not respond instantly to geopolitical change, and we anticipate that any reduction in costs following the end of the war would be gradual and spread over a prolonged period. This means the financial impact on the Charity would continue well beyond the immediate end of the conflict.

“When someone’s life is at risk, our crews must be ready to fly, no matter the distance or the time of day.

“While we carefully manage these increases, we are also asking supporters, if they are able, to help us mitigate this exceptional rise in fuel costs.

“We know that many people across Wales are facing rising costs in their own lives, and we don’t take lightly the decision to ask for help.”

To find out more or to donate, visit: https://www.walesairambulance.com/fuel-cost-appeal