Cwmbran mum Sarah Woodcock's plea to move daughter's grave

Sarah Woodcock's daughter, Kyla Louise, died in 2014 just four weeks and one day after being born prematurely.

She is buried in Cardiff's Western Cemetery, but Ms Woodcock said the distance, combined with a number of heartbreaking incidents, have made her desperate to bring her daughter's grave to Cwmbran.

Since Kyla Louise's death, Ms Woodcock has been devoted to decorating and tending to her grave, adorning it with cuddly toys, lights, and trinkets.

Sarah Woodcock's daughter Kyla Louise shortly after being born in 2014.

"I'm constantly committed to her grave," Ms Woodcock said. "She isn't here for me to buy her sweets, so I spend that money on things for her grave instead.

"If she was here, she'd be a happy five-year-old."

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Unfortunately, Kyla Louise's grave in the Cardiff City Council-owned cemetery has, in the past, been targeted by thieves and vandals.

And last week, Ms Woodcock found many of the lights and decorations she had placed around a nearby tree had been removed, without warning, by cemetery workmen and thrown away.

Sarah Woodcock had decorated this tree, near Kyla Louise's grave in a Cardiff cemetery, but the decorations were taken down without warning by workmen.

A "distraught" Ms Woodcock only managed to recover some of the items.

She said plans to move Kyla Louise's grave after the thefts had been abandoned because of the high costs involved, but that this latest incident had now reaffirmed to her that this was what she wanted to do.

In a statement, Cardiff councillor Michael Michael said the tree decorated by Ms Woodcock "had required a lot of work on low-lying branches for health and safety reasons and to enable easy access to graves".

Workmen had removed all the items from the tree, he said, adding: “I appreciate this may have been a shock to Ms Woodcock when she went to the cemetery, but there was no way we could personally inform anyone in advance about the work which had to be done as we couldn’t possibly know who owned which item."

On Ms Woodcock's plans to move her daughter's grave to Cwmbran, Cllr Michael said: “The loss of a child is a tragedy and I want Ms Woodcock to know that I completely sympathise with her and that we will do what we can to help facilitate any decision she decides to take."

Sarah Woodcock who has had a plaque made for her daughter Kyla who died at 4 weeks. Picture: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk

Ms Woodcock said she hoped to move Kyla Louise's grave to the town's Hollybush Cemetery.

In her spare time, she has been decorating a small wooden fence to place around her daughter's new grave site, and will also place there a headstone for which she spent one year saving up.

The procedure to move the grave, Ms Woodcock said, would not disturb her daughter.

Sarah Woodcock with the plaque for her daughter Kyla who died at 4 weeks. www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk

She said she had already made enquiries for each stage of the process, but was unable to afford the bill on her own.

She is now turning to the public for support, and a Gofundme page has been set up to help pay for the grave to be moved.

Ms Woodcock said bringing Kyla Louise to Cwmbran would help bring closure to a turbulent time.

"I'm not at peace, and I know she isn't either," she said.