Lincolnshire Child Grief Counselling Service at Risk Due to Funding Cuts

The vital bereavement counselling service for children in Lincolnshire, The Lincolnshire Centre for Grief and Loss, is under threat of closure following loss of NHS funding. The facility, supporting adolescents coping with grief due to bereavement, family breakup, or terminal illness, has relied on temporary backing from the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust since 2022. The Trust has now shared that due to financial limitations, the support can’t be extended anymore. The service, located at Carlton Centre in Lincoln, has a team of nine professional counsellors and offered more than 1,000 pro-bono sessions last year to those in dire need. Clare Reynolds, a clinical supervisor at the charity, voiced her apprehensions to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. She underscored the lack of alternative options for schools and the probable amplified pressure on NHS services if the centre shuts down. Reynolds is optimistic that either the LPFT will rethink its decision or that fresh sources of funding can be obtained. This story was adapted from an original article on bbc.com by The Lincoln Post.