Grieving couple had bereavement support cut by charity without reason

Luke and Jane Conlon, from Hough Green, Widnes, spoke to the Runcorn and Widnes World of their 'disgust' at the treatment they have received from Child Bereavement UK, after the charity recently was taken over by Winston's Wish.

The couple reached out to the charity after the tragic loss of their baby girl when Jane was five months pregnant, having dealt with a previous miscarriage as well.

Speaking on the pairs heart breaking journey with IVF, Luke said: "We went through five rounds of IVF over nine years.

"Three free rounds on the NHS and two rounds paid for ourselves, costing over £13k.

"We had one miscarriage and one ectopic pregnancy, both at eight weeks.

"On our fifth and final round we got pregnant again. Only to lose our baby girl Lilly Grace at five months back in February, 2024.

"My wifes waters broke and mother and child got an infection.

"This infection killed Lilly and got into my wife's bloodstream, this is how she got sepsis."

Luke explained how he and Jane had tried to deal with the loss on their own but 'it became too much' which is when they reached out to Child Bereavement UK in March of that year.

A national charity, it provides support to families that are grieving the loss of a child.

The pair began with a face to face meeting with a councillor once a month, initiated by the bereavement charity at Ashley House in Widnes.

As well as joining a group meeting on Zoom once a month.

Luke continued: "We got about five or six meetings in and things were going well.

"There were talks of Child Bereavement UK being taken over by Winston's Wish, but it wouldn't affect us as we had already started our councilling.

"Then, our meeting on Zoom was cancelled with very little notice and we received an email saying we couldn't attend anymore.

"We felt let down as we liked the other parents on there who had also lost children and we didn't even get to say goodbye or swap contact details.

"We let this go as we still had our in-person meetings with our lovely counsellor."

The parent spoke of how the pair had to 'build ourselves up' before each one-to-one session, 'ready to bring up the trauma and open old wounds'.

He added: "But we always felt better afterwards."

Luke and Jane Conlon, from Widnes were accessing bereavement support from a charity until one day they were turned away (Image: Supplied)

"We made our way to Ashley House for our appointment on March 16, but they wouldn't let us in the building.

"The lady who led the one-to-one's came out to see us, we could see she was upset and didn't agree with what she had to tell us.

"She said that she can't see us anymore because Winston's Wish had taken over and all meetings had been cancelled until further notice.

"We were just left standing there and had to go back home."

Three months on and Luke and Jane have still heard nothing from the charity, which has since been taken over by Winston's Wish, another bereavement support organisation.

Luke spoke on how the charity cutting off the service to them and other parents has affected them.

He said: "I think it's disgusting to put bereaved parents through this.

"Haven't we already suffered enough?"

Child Bereavement UK representatives issued an apology over the incident involving Mr and Mrs Conlon.

Letizia Perna, director of services at the charity said: "We understand that change can be difficult, particularly for grieving families.

"We're deeply sorry to hear that Luke and Jane feel let down by the way recent changes at Child Bereavement UK were handled.

“The merger between Child Bereavement UK and Winston's Wish is driven by a shared ambition to provide the highest quality bereavement support possible and ensure that more grieving children, young people, and parents bereaved of a baby or child can access it."

The director of services stated that the new service model is 'digital-first' to make it 'more accessible' and is 'grounded in clinical evidence and informed by best practice'.

She added: “Bereaved parents are not being abandoned or expected to grieve alone. Rather, we are in a period of change as we take steps to make our services the best it can possibly be.

“Everyone accessing support through previous Child Bereavement UK services prior to the merger has been invited to access support through the new organisation.

"This includes the opportunity to speak with a trained bereavement specialist immediately, without the need for a pre-booked appointment or complete a referral for further structured support.

"Where appropriate, families have also been signposted to other providers that may be able to meet their specific needs.

“We want to reassure Luke and Jane, and all parents dealing with the loss of a pregnancy, baby or child, that while services might look different, support is still available.

"We remain committed to being there for bereaved children, young people and parents bereaved of a baby or child.”