TEXT : BDAY99£1 (or a higher amount!) TO :  70070 It's so easy to do as an alternative to donating online~ plus it is free and will appear on this Just Giving Page , just as an online donation would do. You will receive a text receipt from JustTextGiving by Vodafone :)

http://youtu.be/zz0Rhk9NJ9Y A sad but beautiful song, called 'Still'

"How many children do you have?" ... A very common question .... But for some, like me, not an easy question to answer.

Please take a few minutes to read my story, it would mean a lot. Heartfelt thanks.

However- if you wish to donate without reading- I can understand.

Every penny helps, our funds at Oxfordshire Sands are running low and we desperately need money to carry out our services , for example providing the hospitals with memory boxes, for them to give bereaved parents. These boxes cost us around £25 each. For my other chosen charity - children at school always need more equipment to enable them to play and learn. Thank You !

I am a proud mummy to 3 children, not just the 2 that people see me with. I am incredibly blessed to have my precious Charleigh Grace and Konnor, but I will always have a Kayleigh-shaped hole in my heart. I am eternally grateful to the people, both friends and strangers, who help patch the hole- but the patching wears loose this time of year.

There will always be an invisible gap in our family. We embrace Kayleigh as well as we can in our family- my living children know they have a big sister in Heaven, they love taking her flowers - but of course do not yet understand why we cannot have Kayleigh here for a birthday party. As they grow older, I know more questions will come. And that's just the way life is for families like ours, sadly.

Keeping Kayleigh's Memory Alive, Our Little Angel, You Are Forever In Our Hearts. 04.11.07. Weighing 7lb 11oz. After a text-book pregnancy - Kayleigh died inside me 5 days before her due date, as i went into labour. A Complete and Utter Shock. An Unexplained Death. Our Perfect Baby. Still Born, Still Loved.

Immense joy turned to our worst nightmare. Kayleigh's tragic death resulted in a very traumatic labour,  post-mortem, funeral, cremation,  ...... our lives, home and nursery ready and waiting for our baby....but we came home empty handed..... and still constantly have reminders in every walk of life that our baby is not with us. A loss to the future. And the most unbelievable, unbearable, overwhelming pain. The journey of grief is a long, hard one.

Every baby deserves the chance to take their first steps...Did you know that 17 babies are stillborn or die shortly after birth every day in the UK ? 17 babies denied the chance of life, 17 families denied a lifetime of memories, but constantly reminded of the milestones missed.... No sleepless nights ...No first bike ride ....No first day at school ....No graduation ....No wedding day ....

Did you know that stillbirth is 10 times more likely than cot death ?

The impact of the death of a baby is a trauma that affects so many people, in so many different ways. It is something you can not even begin to understand, unless you have been through it.

The support of Sands helped us to try and cope with the devastation and isolation that we have experienced.

Now I help to run Oxfordshire Sands as a volunteer – including supporting the local hospitals; supporting and befriending bereaved parents and families. Also, raising funds for memory boxes; maintenance of Sands memorials; Remembrance books; Remembrance Service; midwife bereavement training and antenatal hospital equipment. All the hard work is worth it because I know how much difference good support can make, at such at tragic time when your world has completely fallen apart. Please visit http://www.oxfordshiresands.org.uk/ for more information on our charity.

Sadly- the death of a baby is still a very taboo subject. This can lead to feelings of immense isolation. It is understandable of course, for people to want to avoid talking about stillbirth- as death has no place before birth, does it ? After all - how can it be right to say goodbye, before even having a chance to say hello ? And anyway, children are not meant to die. The grief is indeed intense, as parents feel part of them has died with their child. The loss of a baby is not just that (if that wasn’t enough), it is also the loss of a future. Learning to carry on when the baby you've been waiting months for dies before you ever got a chance to really know her/ him ... When instead of bringing your baby home, you have to carry a tiny white coffin and bury them in the cold ground ... What happens to all that love you feel for your child - it doesn't disappear, but all you can do is lay flowers at their grave .... Learning how to cope with life with a heavy heart and aching , empty arms ... The challenge to find light within the darkness. 

Kayleigh would have started school this September. I have found this very difficult to get my head around. I wonder what she would like doing, what she would look like in her school uniform, dark hair in 2 little plaits and big brown eyes, like her little sister.... I still long to look into her eyes, I never had the chance you see, because her eyes never opened ... I didn't get the chance to meet her and look through the window to her little soul. That will pain me ‘til the day I die.

For Kayleigh's birthday/ anniversary - I wanted to get the ball rolling with fundraising, leading up a show being hosted by my dance troupe. The Shimmytastic Charity Dance Show, a dance journey through the Middle East and beyond, will be held on Sunday 24th March, 2.30pm and Bloxham School, Bloxham, Banbury. Oxon. OX15 4PE. There will stalls, refreshments and raffle. Tickets are £8, available from Bloxham Primary School office or contact shimmytasticshow@gmail.com / 07870 345983. All proceeds will be equally divided between Oxfordshire Sands and FOBPS (Friends of Bloxham Primary School) – where I teach. The dance show is being sponsored by Work Area Ltd (www.workarealtd.com), which means all monies raised will go straight to our chosen charities. I wanted something positive to focus on at this time, to make a difference to bereaved families - but also to the children at school, so they can have some extra enjoyment using equipment, in Kayleigh's memory. I am hoping to be able to add something to the Outdoor Classroom project that FOBPS are currently setting up. I want to do something special for Kayleigh on this landmark occasion, I need to show her my love, and I want her to be proud of me. I want her little life to make a difference. I know that attending a dance show is not everyone's 'cup of tea' , so donating to my page is another way you can support my two great causes.

Kayleigh Hancox ~ Happy 5th Birthday in Heaven 

~Always Loved , Never Forgotten ~

"As Long As I Live, You Will Live;

As Long As I Live, You Will Be Remembered;

As Long As I Live, You Will Be Loved."

If you wish to contact me for any further information, or with any other offer of support, eg raffle prizes for the dance show in March, please feel free to email me at info@oxfordshiresands.org.uk

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Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

National Sands have agreed to pass donations to Oxfordshire Sands (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity) and FOBPS (Friends of Bloxham Primary School) in a 50/ 50 split. Any gift aid will go to National Sands, to help fund research to try to prevent stillbirth from happening in the future.

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