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Grief Counselling for Kids Faces Closure Over Funding Cuts
7 Jan
Summary
- Children's grief service losing vital NHS funding.
- Charity provides free school-based support for bereaved youth.
- Loss of funds threatens over 1,000 yearly counseling sessions.
The Lincolnshire Centre for Grief and Loss, a vital service supporting children through family bereavement or divorce, is facing imminent closure. This comes after the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) announced it could no longer provide temporary funding, which had been in place since 2022. The trust cited increasing financial pressures and the need to prioritize statutory services.
This funding gap specifically impacts the charity's work with children, despite also offering adult services. Clinical supervisor Clare Reynolds expressed deep concern, highlighting that the organization is unique in its direct school interventions, including support following student or staff deaths. She cautioned that the cessation of this preventative service could ultimately place greater strain on NHS resources.
LPFT's chief operating officer confirmed that while they provided temporary support due to increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to secure long-term funding have been unsuccessful. The trust must now manage its resources to meet mandated services, leading to the difficult decision to withdraw support from the children's grief counselling program.
