Blossom & Bloom: Rhyl meeting held as charity faces closure
Blossom & Bloom's wellbeing and development hubs, located in the White Rose Shopping Centre, will shut on Friday, May 30.
The charity, established in 2020, has supported more than 700 families; it aims to provide a safe, free-of-charge space for parents with pre-school-age children to attend on a daily basis.
The charity attributed its decision to close in part to Denbighshire County Council's decision not to allocate it any funds from its share of the Shared Prosperity Fund which it has received for the new financial year from the UK Government.
The public meeting was held on Wednesday (May 7) at Sussex Street Christian Centre.
As well as 60 mums, four councillors attended.
Six mothers spoke at the meeting about what the charity means to them, including one who said she felt 'scared, lonely and vulnerable' when she fell pregnant, but then found a 'second home' in Blossom & Bloom.
Ashleigh Greenwood, wellbeing support assistant at Blossom & Bloom, said: 'There were so many mums and families (at the meeting); the room was full.
'We had a lot of questionnaires filled out by mums and members of the public about what the impact of the closure would be, and how Blossom & Bloom has helped them.
'What we were hoping to achieve from this was for people to see how needed it is in the community.
'We made a request for the council to go to review its decision - this was our way of trying to show the council how many people are involved and will be impacted by the closure."
This request was unsuccessful.
Ashleigh added: 'My main concern is about where the families go from here. What's going to happen to all of the mums and babies that rely on this charity so much when we shut the doors on May 30?'
Among the councillors in attendance at Wednesday's meeting were Cllrs Brian Jones (Welsh Conservatives, Rhyl Ty Newydd), Michelle Blakely-Walker (Labour, Rhyl Trellewelyn) and Will Price (Welsh Conservatives, Rhyl Trellewelyn).
Vicky Welsman-Millard, founder of Blossom & Bloom, expressed her thanks to the councillors for their attendance and for listening to the mums who spoke at the meeting.
Vicky Welsman-Millard (R) with some of the mums who use Blossom & Bloom's services (Image: Newsquest) Cllr Jones said: 'A number of speakers expressed extremely powerful factual messages of support for the Blossom & Bloom project, and the need for it to continue here in Rhyl as an essential service.
'This latter point, of an essential service, appears to be have been totally missed by the council.'
Cllr Blakely-Walker described Blossom & Bloom's work as 'incredible'.
She added: 'I was deeply saddened to hear that the council had made the decision to no longer provide funding to Blossom & Bloom.
'This local charity has worked with over 400 mothers and families within our town of Rhyl and the surrounding areas, providing crucial help and support in their time of need.
'I and a few other councillors recently submitted a scrutiny request for Blossom & Bloom in the hope that the council would explore options for further funding. Unfortunately, however, this was rejected.
'From the standpoint of both a councillor and a mother, I sincerely hope that a resolution can be found which enables Blossom & Bloom to continue providing its invaluable services for our local community.
Cllr Price said: 'I was taken back a little, when I walked into the meeting, at how many of our local community was present, and at just how angry they were at this decision to stop the funding for this vital charity.
'I've received various updates over the last month or so from concerned residents of Rhyl and beyond, voicing their anger and frustration due to the loss of funding for this bespoke service they provide to mums and families.
'I am still sitting here today scratching my head as to why they would be so cruel in their decisions to take their funding away.
'The council claims to be at the forefront in looking after people's wellbeing, and being transformational in their ideas and planning strategy, but I personally don't see this in their decision concerning Blossom & Bloom.'
A council spokesperson said: 'The council has received the request from Blossom & Bloom and have now responded with information to address the issues raised.'
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