Speaking in the Welsh Parliament today, North Wales Assembly Member and Chair of the Cross-Party Group on Funerals and Bereavement, Mark Isherwood AM, championed the valuable work of the all-Wales charity ‘2 Wish Upon a Star’ and challenged the First Minister over its lack of statutory support.   

Mr Isherwood told the First Minister that although the charity, which provides essential bereavement support for families who have suddenly and traumatically lost a child or young adult aged 25 years and under, has effectively become a statutory service, they are receiving no Welsh Government or other statutory funding.

He said:

“A fortnight ago, as Chair of the Cross Party Group on Funerals and Bereavement, I met Rhian Mannings, who is the Founder and Chief Executive of the all-Wales Charity ‘2 Wish Upon a Star’, to discuss their work providing essential bereavement support for families who have suddenly and traumatically lost a child or young adult aged 25 years and under, which may be from suicide, or may be through accident or illness. As she said, ‘sudden death is the forgotten death in Wales’. And although they've become a statutory service, effectively, in Wales, working with every Health Board, every Police Force, they're receiving no statutory support whatsoever, having to raise every penny themselves.

“She said they're reducing pressure on mental health teams, helping tackle that unforeseeable trauma of unpredictable death and loss. How, therefore, do you respond to their statement that their services therefore need to be widely known, with a multi-agency approach undertaken, to ensure that this support can be delivered Wales-wide and that the severe long-term consequences for the survivors can be reduced?”

In his response, the First Minister said: “I absolutely commend the work that they do. I know that the health service in Wales wants to work carefully alongside them, but never to substitute for the extra ingredient that comes with people who have had that experience themselves, looking to make that available to others and to help them through an experience that they themselves have had to travel sometimes alone.”