10th August 2019

Recent Political Developments and the Future for Children Are Butterflies

The Childrens Funeral Fund

We have always wished for a solution by the Government that would provide financial assistance to bereaved parents. At such an emotional time, the extra burden of financing a funeral that is often least expected and seldom planned for is the very reason we started doing what we do. And we have been so proud to offer so much assistance to so many people across the nation. And now, after so many years and tireless work from one determined MP we now have The Childrens Funeral Fund for England. Along with similar funds in Wales and Scotland.

MP Carolyn Harris had been fighting for it for it since 2016, after losing a son in 1989 and experiencing first hand how difficult that is, and remains to be. She fought and fought, and finally the fund was approved by then PM Theresa May last year in 2018. The Childrens Funeral Fund finally came into place this year, July 23rd 2019 and serves to waive burial or cremation or cremation costs and provide contributions to other elements of a child’s funeral. Full details of the how the fund works can be found on the Government website – Support for child funeral costs (Children’s Funeral Fund for England).
(For Wales and Scotland, please visit the respective Government site.)

Where Do We Now Fit In?

As part of our commitment to the Charity Commission we had to satisfy them that we were doing everything we could (short of means testing) to assess the “need” for financial assistance in each application. It was their way of ensuring that we were issuing grants responsibly. The issue now is that the Childrens Funeral Fund is actually removing most of the “need” for the majority of applications we receive, and in many cases eliminating it completely.

It is clear now that we are not needed in the same way that we were, and that is good news. So we are now in the position that we can not operate the fund in the way that we have currently set in our constitution, so we need to take a long look at the best way of utilising the fund going forward, and how we can now put it to best use.

What Next?

Whilst we re-evaluate our position we will be putting an immediate halt to all usual operations – we will not be processing any further applications for assistance, and will not be requesting any further donations or fundraising. The fund will be frozen where it is, safely in the bank, whilst current fundraising is processed and until we decide the next step.

Applications for Assistance

• No further applications will be processed.
• The application mechanism has been removed from the website.
• For the recently bereaved, further details on how the new fund works can be found on the Government webpage.

Donations & Fundraising

• Donation tools have been removed from the website and Facebook.
• Requests have been made to close down the fundraising sites to new fundraisers.
• Current fundraisers are still active and will run their course.
• We are not requesting any further donations during this time.
• If you have donations not passed over, we will still accept them or will understand if you wish to donate them elsewhere.
• If you have plans in place for an upcoming fundraiser, we will accept those still if you wish, or again will understand completely if you choose to send the funds elsewhere.