A desperate appeal to save children's bereavement charity Noah's Ark Trust has failed, leaving 14 staff out of work and 900 bereaved children without the support network.

The Trust, which has an office in Worcester and one in Hereford, announced the launch of a last-ditch appeal to local business owners on 4 October, led by Worcestershire businessman Stephen Taylor. The Keep Noah's Ark Afloat appeal aimed to raise enough funds to keep the charity above water until January 2012, by which time, it said, a restructure would have taken place and expenditure dramatically reduced. 

Six staff redundancies, incorporating four bereavement co-ordinators and two fundraisers, had already been announced in a bid to combat the £18k deficit per month the charity was working to. The charity also said it would have to reduce its services to provide support only to children who had lost a parent or parental equivalent or a brother or sister, and would remove its services entirely from Worcestershire, affecting 50 children.

But a report in the Hereford Times this morning advises that the battle has been lost and the charity will now close, leaving its 14 key staff members out of work, and removing the charity's support for the 900 children it currently works with. A voicemail message on the charity's phone lines confirms that the charity has ceased its services and is now in the hands of M B Insolvency.

The charity had reported that regular income from grants and trust funds had "dwindled as investments no longer produce good returns". Increased competition for these funds and a reduction in public giving of all forms had led to the financial constraints, it advised when launching its appeal earlier this month. 

Both Stephen Taylor and the charity's chief executive Gabby Beddows were unavailable to comment at the time of publication but a spokesperson from the Child Bereavement Charity offered the organisation's sympathies: “We were very sorry to hear that the vital service that Noah's Ark provided to the local community has been lost.

"The Child Bereavement Charity is keeping abreast of developments and looking at how it might help to offer a continunation of services to local bereaved children and their families, where it can.”    

In 2009 there were around 11,500 deaths resulting in bereaved children in the two counties, according to the charity. Noah's Ark Trust was the only charity in the region providing support to bereaved children.