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Mum and baby charity closing after funding cut

Sarah Easedale
BBC News
BBC A woman with dark hair tied up and wearing black-framed glasses and hoop earrings is pictured from the side. She is wearing a light grey hoody and holding a smiling baby of around four months old around the waist. He is wearing a grey romper and a bib which reads DKNY Jeans. In the background are other mums and babies sitting around a play mat which has an alphabet design. A grey wall with yellow bunting hanging is behind. BBC
Blossom and Bloom has 500 families registered from across Denbighshire

A mother and baby charity which has helped 700 families, including homeless mums and their children, is shutting down because of cuts to its funding.

Blossom and Bloom runs two hubs in the White Rose Centre in Rhyl, Denbighshire, to help with support and socialising as well as training and education.

Vicky Welsman-Millard, who founded the organisation in 2020, said the "devastating" closure next month came after the local authority said it would not be giving it any money from the UK government's Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

Denbighshire council said it had to reduce the amount given to all projects due to a "significant reduction in available funding".

One woman who turned to the charity in 2023 after she became homeless with a baby and a toddler said Blossom and Bloom "literally saved" her.

Eloise Garland, 30, who now lives in Llandudno, Conwy county, said the organisation "supported her in so many different ways", including her wellbeing, with her children and to find housing.

She said it was "heart breaking" to think the facility where she made so many friends and found a "support network" was closing.

"The impact they have on parents is so great... they take a lot of pressure off other services," she added.

Eloise, a young woman with light brown hair pulled off her face in a ponytail. She is smiling directly at the camera and is wearing a navy blue t-shirt.
Eloise Garland says her life has been turned around by Blossom and Bloom and her children are thriving

Sarah Jones-Wallace, 27, from Denbigh, said finding Blossom and Bloom when she was "struggling and isolated" at home with her newborn had been the "best thing ever to have happened".

"I found the hub, and they said 'come in, have a cup of tea' and I never looked back."

Now a trustee of the charity, Ms Jones-Wallace said she could not put into words how "vital" it was and she "wouldn't be here" without it.

"I would hate to think of a mum in my position not having a place like this to go."

Sarah holding a young toddler. She has long wavy brown hair pulled back off her face and is wearing a black t-shirt and a silver bracelet. The baby has light brown hair and is wearing a mustard coloured top with white sleeves. They are both smiling and the baby has a finger in his mouth. Other women are out of focus sitting in the background.
Sarah Jones-Wallace (with son Macsen) says there is "nothing else" like Blossom and Bloom available to mums in the area

Cerys McCormick, 25, said her son Albie was just two weeks old when she started getting help after feeling "really low".

She said getting advice from other mums and seeing they all shared the same worries was "reassuring".

"[The staff] have all been mums as well," she added.

"They know what you are going through."

Vicky with shoulder length black hair, wearing a burgundy top, black blazer and white lanyard stands smiling facing a woman with a blonde bob who is also smiling and holding a toddler on her right hip. The woman is wearing a dark pink t-shirt and a black cardigan and has a silver nose ring hoop. In her left hand she is holding a white mug which reads 'my kinda people' in coloured letters. A cafe counter is visible behind them.
Vicky Welsman-Millard (l) said she wanted to be able to offer mums "better days" for themselves and their children

Five years ago Ms Welsman-Millard said she saw the "real need" for the charity after she offered accommodation to some homeless mums in Rhyl.

Many more began asking for support and the organisation grew rapidly, offering a place any mother could come to with her baby or young child, and find practical support and a listening ear.

But she said the funding challenges faced by all third sector organisations had caught up with them.

The charity has relied on Levelling Up funding from the UKSPF for the past three years.

"Being a relatively newly established charity, we don't have any reserves," she said.

"We do receive funding from other sources as well, but it just doesn't cover the main core services."

Two young mums sit side by side. On the left Sarah, wearing a cream t-shirt and green jeans with long light auburn hair, holds a toddler on her lap with light blonde hair, who is wearing a dungaree dress and white tights. Cerys has dark blodne pulled back hair parted in the centre, she is wearing a black t-shirt. She has a baby on her lap who has his eyes closed and is feeding from a bottle of milk. He is wearing striped trousers and a cream top, as well as blue leather shoes.
Sarah Foote with her daughter Aliyah (l) and Cerys McCormick with son Albie say they have become friends by attending the Rhyl hubs

Ms Welsman-Millard said it costs about £100,000 a year to keep the premises running and pay staff.

"If you apply that... across every family that we are supporting, it's not a lot at all for the impact we are making," she said.

"What Blossom and Bloom means to the families that engage with us is that it's a second home, somewhere they know they can get out of the house and come to."

She said she feared the loss of the support they offer would have a "detrimental impact on the mental health of the parenting community".

A metal shelving unit against a cream wall on which there are posters saying Baby Essentials Swap Shop. The top shelves have a variety of toys and books on including a blue plastic truck. Underneath there is a box of baby clothes next to a box of baby bottles and more plastic boxes of little shoes.
One of the services the mums say they rely on is a place to swap baby clothes and other items for free

Blossom and Bloom is set to close on 30 May when six paid members of staff, along with six volunteers, will lose their jobs.

The council said the UKSPF money for Blossom and Bloom was "time-limited due to the nature of the funding".

It added that in spite of the reduction in Levelling Up funding it had been given, there would be "key funds" available that third sector organisations could apply for.

"We recognise it is very challenging to run a charity or community group these days and the council recognises the commitment of the operators of charities and community groups such as Blossom and Bloom," it added.