News

Sandy Bear: Leaked letter explains council’s proposals to replace vital service

Published

10 years ago

April 18, 2016

Tom Sinclair

County Hall

EXCLUSIVE

PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL says it has been working with the local health board to look at how The Emotional Health and Wellbeing Service (EHWS) can be reconfigured to deal with drastic funding cuts.

Suggestions include bolstering in-school services, which are already in place.

The news comes as Hwyel Dda University Health Board says that it will shut the doors on the Sandy Bear child bereavement service next month.

Cllr Sue Perkins

The health board’s move follows last month’s letter from Pembrokeshire County Council explaining to Hywel Dda stating that there were problems with providing funding following “significant” reductions to two grants.

The Sandy Bear service was entirely funded via the council, by the Families First (Welsh Govt) and the Youth Justice (UK Govt) grants.

Cllr Sue Perkins, Cabinet Member for Children and Safeguarding, has been under pressure from colleagues including Cllrs Tudor and Woodham who have expressed surprise and shock that such an “important service” is to close. They have asked for clarification following last week’s Scrutiny Committee meeting.

Speaking last week, Cllr Perkins said that no decision had yet been taken by the council, and that she would be fighting tensure support would still be available to children and young people, even if this had to be in a different form to Sandy Bear.

However, a leaked document – a letter sent by e-mail to all councillors – suggests that Pembrokeshire County Council has already made arrangements for what will replace the service.

Councillors have now been told that officers have been working with the Health Board over the last month – long before any announcement that the Sandy Bear service was to be scrapped.

Cllr Sue Perkins said in the letter: “[We] will continue to offer a bereavement support service, and Pembrokeshire children will receive the same level of bereavement support service as in other parts of the Hywel Dda area.

“We are confident that no child will be disadvantaged as a result of the changes that we will make.

“More work will be done on the proposal, and a detailed and final statement on the shape of bereavement support and wellbeing services in Pembrokeshire will be made in early May, well in advance of any discontinuation of Sandy Bear.

“This will be jointly issued by Pembrokeshire County Council and Hywel Dda Health Board.”

sandybear The letter explained to Councillors: “The Youth Justice grant was cut by £45,000 at the beginning of the 2015/16 financial year, and then cut again by £20,000 during the year. Pembrokeshire Youth has also had to deal with cuts of £49,000 from Families First, and £40,000 from PCC core funding.

“The total reduction in funding to Pembrokeshire Youth over the last 12 months therefore totals £154,000. We know that the Youth Justice grant will be cut again for the 2016/17 financial year, but we do not yet know how much by – it could be anywhere between £20,000 and £50,000.

“The Families First grant was cut by £170,000 for the 2016/17 financial year. From April 2017 onwards, the intention of the Welsh Govt is to ‘align’ the Families First funding stream with the Communities First and Supporting people funding streams. We don’t know at this stage what impact this will have on the total monies available in the County, but we anticipate further reductions.

“As a consequence of these reductions, we have had to give notice to the Health Board that there was a risk to the continued level of funding to the EHWS, and that it was likely that the funding to the service would have to reduce by around £45k.

“This was formally done on the 10 March.”

Charity

Tenby club raises £1,000 for Wales Air Ambulance

Published

3 hours ago

May 22, 2026

Tom Sinclair

TENBY INNER WHEEL CLUB has raised £1,000 for Wales Air Ambulance after holding a popular fish and chip supper fundraiser.

The club has supported the lifesaving charity for 12 years, raising £8,600 in total.

The latest event, held at the Boathouse in Saundersfoot, included both lunch and evening sittings, as well as a raffle.

The Inner Wheel Club of Tenby is a women’s organisation focused on friendship and service. It currently has 23 members who raise money for a range of good causes.

Karen Tulley, from the club, said: “Our members use our skills to promote and help good causes, while having plenty of fun at the same time.

“We are all aware that Wales Air Ambulance relies totally on donations and receives no government funding, which is why we are always keen to make this a really good event and raise as much money as we can.

“The air ambulance service is essential, particularly in rural areas.”

Following the fundraiser, Mike May, Wales Air Ambulance Regional Fundraising Manager, attended the club’s annual meeting, where he was presented with the £1,000 cheque.

He said: “A huge thank you to everyone at Inner Wheel Club of Tenby for raising a further £1,000 for our service.

“The members have fundraised for us for 12 years and in that time they have raised an incredible £8,600, which is amazing. We really do appreciate their ongoing support of our all-Wales charity.

“Fundraisers like these will ensure that the Wales Air Ambulance continues to be there for the people of Wales when they need us most.”

Wales Air Ambulance is a consultant-led service which takes hospital-standard treatment to patients and, if needed, transfers them directly to the most appropriate hospital.

The charity must raise £13m every year to keep its helicopters in the air and rapid response vehicles on the road.

Pic: Mike May, Wales Air Ambulance Regional Fundraising Manager, at the cheque presentation.

Community

Protest planned outside police station calling for Chief Constable’s removal

Published

4 hours ago

May 22, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Campaigners accuse Dyfed-Powys Police of failing to safeguard children in Carmarthenshire

A PROTEST calling for the removal of Dyfed-Powys Police Chief Constable Dr Richard Lewis is due to take place outside Llanelli Police Station this weekend.

The demonstration, organised by campaign group Predator Awareness and activist Zack Griffiths, is scheduled for Saturday (May 23) at 11:00am.

Promotional material shared online claims the protest is being held because the current Chief Constable has “failed to safeguard the children of Carmarthenshire”.

Campaigners are urging members of the public to gather outside Llanelli Police Station under the slogan: “No more silence. No more excuses. Protect our children.”

The specific concerns behind the protest have not been fully outlined publicly, although organisers have linked it to wider safeguarding concerns.

When approached by The Herald, Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed officers were aware of the planned demonstration.

***Protest planned: Campaigners are calling for the removal of Dyfed-Powys Police Chief Constable Dr Richard Lewis (Pic: supplied).***

A police spokesperson said: “We are aware of plans for a protest in Llanelli this weekend.

“We will always seek to facilitate lawful peaceful protest while balancing it with the rights of others, keeping the public safe, and preventing crime and disorder — and we encourage anyone organising a protest to contact us so we can work together to ensure any demonstrations are done safely and with respect for the wider community.”

The protest is expected to take place outside Llanelli Police Station on Saturday morning.

News

Bank holiday rail works to affect Cardiff and Valleys passengers

Published

4 hours ago

May 22, 2026

Tom Sinclair

PASSENGERS are being urged to plan ahead this bank holiday weekend as essential rail improvement works take place across the Cardiff and Valleys network.

Transport for Wales said all lines through Cardiff Queen Street will be closed on Sunday (May 24) and Bank Holiday Monday (May 25).

Rail replacement buses and service diversions will be in operation to keep passengers moving.

Services from Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil will continue to run into Cardiff Central via the City Line, through Ninian Park. Replacement buses will run between Radyr and Llandaf, Cathays, Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Bay.

The works come as warm weather is forecast and services to popular coastal destinations, including Barry Island and the North Wales coast, are expected to be busier than usual.

Passengers are also being reminded that a new timetable came into effect on Sunday (May 17), with some trains now calling at different stations and at different times.

Industrial action by West Midlands Railway is also expected to affect Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton and Hereford to Birmingham routes on Friday (May 22) and Saturday (May 23). TfW said its own services are likely to be busier as a result, with extra capacity provided where possible.

Sarah Higgins, Operations Director at Transport for Wales, said: “Transport for Wales will be running its normal timetable over the Bank Holiday weekend, but some services may be much busier than usual due to industrial action at West Midlands Railway affecting Shrewsbury–Birmingham and Hereford–Birmingham services on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 May.

“With high temperatures also forecast, customers are encouraged to take extra care when travelling, check for the latest travel information using the TfW website, mobile app, or social media channels, and to stay hydrated.”

On Sunday and Monday, buses will replace trains between Rhymney or Caerphilly and Cardiff Central, and between Radyr and Cardiff Central via Llandaf, Cathays and Cardiff Queen Street.

Penarth to Coryton services will terminate at Cardiff Central, with tickets accepted on Cardiff Bus routes 21, 23 and 27. On Monday only, tickets will also be valid on Cardiff Bus routes 92, 93 and 94 between Penarth and Cardiff city centre.

For the Cardiff Bay Line, tickets will be accepted on Cardiff Bus route 6, with an additional hourly bus running between Radyr and Cardiff Bay, calling at Llandaf, Cathays and Cardiff Queen Street.