Im raising money for two wondeful charities and they are Sands UK & 4Louis. Currently on average 13 families a day go through the heartbreak of losing their child, before, during or after birth. That number stands at 4,500 babys per year.

the reason I have decided to pick these two is not just for the amazing work they do, but for helping two of my dear friends when unfortunately in august of last year they suffered the loss of their son george, i feel like my words will not do it justice, so thank you to jack and gemma for being brave to tell their story, here it is.

Sands and 4Louis helped us in ways that are hard to put into words, when your heart is broken and your going through the hardest thing imaginable you cannot think straight.

We sadly, know this first hand, after 9 months of preparing and carrying our beautiful baby boy we were so excited and ready to meet him, never in a million years did we plan on not being able to bring our son home.

After finding out our son had passed on his due date all we could focus on was getting to meet him and hold him, he deserved to be born like every other baby, Gem went into labour naturally that same evening, all we could think about was George, he had his name ready and waiting for him. After 17 hours of labour he was here and he was perfect. We held him and spent every moment looking at him taking in his every feature from his thick brown hair, his button nose and his tiny hands. We couldn’t think about the next moment let alone the days ahead, that’s when our midwife brought us two boxes, one from sandsuk and one from 4Louis they helped guide and shape our time with George. 4Louis is founded by parents that have been through what we are going through, they know how precious the time is. Their box was filled with things to remember our boy, to touch on a few are, things from specialist paper to take his hand and footprints to a book that we got to read to him, little things that were so glad we have now to look back on the memories we were able to make with him, the one thing they also understand is the importance of photos, you don’t realise the value in a photograph until it is all that you have. 4Louis donates a camera to maternity wards all across the U.K. and in each box you are given a personal memory card to use with that camera so you can take as many photos of your baby as you wish.

Sandsuk box was filled with sentimental items too, from a hand knitted blanket to two small teddy bears which the midwife informed us to hold one close to us and one with him and when the time came for us to say goodbye you swap the bears over so he will always have one we held and we have one he did things like this are irreplaceable and will stay with us forever. Their box also came with a Breavement book on what to expect over time, although this wasn’t something we could look at in the hospital it is something we have read since being home, it’s an insight to a life we never wanted but helped us manage and navigate through things we didn’t know were coming.

I wish with every ounce of my heart that these charities didn’t need to exist but I’m glad that they do, the support they provide for families like mine is unforgettable and the honour and love they show every single baby is precious.

powerful words, but what is needed so we can hammer home the message and help these charities in their mission to understand and to even one day to decrease the numbers on why this, the unexplainable happens to parents across the country.