Pembrokeshire’s only hospice, Shalom House respite care facility in St Davids, has announced that it is to close at the end of this month.

“This is devastating for Pembrokeshire and highlights the problems many charities face with reliable, sustainable funding streams,” said Cllr Joshua Beynon, Labour County Councillor for Pembroke Dock Central Ward.

Urgent questions will be raised at the County’s Council’s full council meeting following the announcement.

Shalom House, set up to provide palliative support to patients and their relatives, opened its doors to patients in 2007 after a decade of fundraising. The hospice provided holistic, accessible and personalised care to people with life-limiting conditions, including cancer, and other life limiting illnesses, such as MND, Parkinson’s and COPD.

The five-bedroom bungalow in St Davids, Pembrokeshire, was gifted to the charity by romantic novelist Elizabeth de Guise so that the palliative care unit could be established.

Twelve years ago, the charity changed its services from overnight to daycare, owing to financial constraints and so that it could “support as many patients as possible in a flexible and beneficial way.”

The charity said that Shalom House had been ‘under severe financial pressure for a long time’.

A Save Shalom House campaign was launched in spring 2024; the charity said that around £24,000 per month was required to keep the hospice open.

In September the charity announced: “It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the closure of Shalom House Hospice in St Davids, which has served the whole of Pembrokeshire for many years. Sadly, ongoing financial difficulties and a lack of sustainable funding mean we have no alternative but to close at the end of October 2025.”

In a series of questions to be heard at the October 9 meeting of Pembrokeshire County council, Cllr Joshua Beynon will ask: “In light of the very recent announcement that Shalom House Hospice in St Davids will close at the end of October 2025, I wish to raise an urgent question.

“Shalom House has provided vital palliative and end-of-life care for many years, serving residents across Pembrokeshire with compassion and dedication. Its closure will have an immediate impact on some of the most vulnerable people in our county, as well as on their families, staff, and volunteers.

“Given the seriousness and imminence of this situation, can the Leader (or relevant Cabinet Member) set out what urgent discussions the council has had, or intends to have, with Hywel Dda University Health Board and Welsh Government to ensure continuity of palliative and end-of-life care for Pembrokeshire residents?

“What role [will] the council’s own social services play in supporting patients and families during this transition, alongside what wider support can be offered to affected staff and volunteers?”

The councillor will also ask “whether the council will make formal representations to Welsh Government about the urgent need for sustainable funding for hospice and community-based palliative care across Pembrokeshire and Wales.”

Cllr Beynon’s questions will be answered by Leader Cllr Jon Harvey or the appropriate Cabinet member.