The first thing I have to say is 'Sorry', it has been a few weeks since our last blog, things have just been so busy with the charity this summer. 

This year is just getting busier and busier with each passing week, and whilst this is great for us it also makes us so aware of how many more families have lost a baby or child.
We are now getting referrals from so many more places and we know that our charity is one of the first ones that many agencies in Leeds refer onto. 
We have come so far in the last 6 months and it is still amazing when we get referrals through from GP surgeries across Leeds and have even had consultants from the hospitals ring us up to provide support to a family they are discharging. 

The last year has seen us develop the current services we offer as well as developing more services for families to access. We have been increasing our number of counsellors and are always very happy to take on more. 

The more counsellors we have the more families we can support. 

At the minute we are trying to increase our number of 'Couples' counsellors as this is a specialised area that requires further training and qualifications. 
Often families we work with want to see separate counsellors as they think that it will help them to open up more about their feelings without worrying how it will effect their partner. We know from our own experiences that you try to protect your other family members by keeping your feelings inside or by only sharing some of them. Going alone can also help you to open up and talk about things that you feel others might think are a 'bit crazy'. 
However some families start by attending together and then as they go along they change to separate sessions.
There has also been couples that have gone together throughout and have found it really beneficial. 
It can often be very difficult to find a counsellor that can change during their sessions and we are really proud that this is something we are trying to increase. Our aim has always been and always will be to get help and support to families the best way for them. We will always be flexible as we know how difficult even day to day things can be when you are trying to function following a loss.

Our home visit option has also been really successful. 
We initially worried that it might not be received well or that families would feel odd letting strangers into their houses and talking openly about the death of their child. 

We couldn't have been more wrong.

The home visits have really worked well and some families have even chose to continue with the visits rather than choosing counselling at this point. 
When a family first gets home and for several months after they may find times when just getting out of bed is challenging enough let alone think of leaving the safety of their home to attend counselling or a support group. 
To be able to offer them support in their own space where they feel protected and often more relaxed has been great. 
We always make sure that we explain that the person visiting is not a counsellor but has been through peer support training and has often been through a loss themselves.
Having done many of the home visits I feel very privileged that the families trust me enough to allow me into their homes and share their beautiful 'angels' with me. 
When we arrange the first visit we never have a time for the visit to finish. Often it can take a while for the family to feel relaxed enough to talk and usually the first half of the visit is usually just general getting to know each other chat. 
Lots of the home visits I have done have usually been for around 2 hours and we will always let the families know that we are not on a time limit. 
When you have been to see people at home a few times you can feel the relationship developing and you can see them relaxing and looking forward to the visits as they know they can talk about their child as well as anything else that is worrying them. 
I have had a few families say that it has been nice to just chat about 'normal' things like whats on the TV as often they feel that other friends and family members feel like they need to talk just about their loss. Just being able to be 'you' again is something we hear a lot and I know that this is so important. I remember wanting my friends to talk to me like they used to do and not worry about mentioning Charlie for fear of upsetting me. 
We really hope to get more volunteers on board in the next 6 months that are happy to go through the peer support training to then be able to go on home visits. This will allow us to get even more help out there to the families we support. If you know anyone or even fancy having a go just get in touch with us and have a chat about the options and maybe other ways you can get involved.

We have also been kept busy with a steady stream of phonecalls, emails and messages through our social media sites. 

The amount of contact we are currently receiving has gone up quite quickly over the last few months and it always amazes me at how quick and efficiently Sam (co-founder) is able to react to these. I have to admit that I really do not understand Twitter, thankfully Sam is a whizz and has often been involved with discussions regarding child and baby loss and support that is out there for families. 
Sam is also the driving force behind our website, having developed and built it, and she spends many many hours making sure it is all up to date and has the most relevant information for people visiting it. 
Most workplaces have hours which their employees work. As a charity we do not have that luxury and to be honest I think most of us like it like that. The support families need after a loss does not fit nicely into working hours and we would never want any family to have to go through it alone. 

We have been very lucky to secure the support and help of many companies and professional individuals this year as well and this is such a help to us and allows us to be able to focus on the day to day issues that often get put back when we are trying to arrange other things such as fund raising events. 
We are only in August of 2018 and already 2019 is looking to be a brilliant year for fundraising and 2 of the events are being organised by other people (which is always a bonus for us).

I think at times we forget to thank each other for the work we put in to the charity and we know that without each other we couldn't do the work we do. We all have our areas that we are better at than others and we always use that to make the charity run as smoothly as it does. There will always be times when we feel exhausted or down if things are not changing as quickly as we want it to but we all know that we can call on each other at these times to get support. 

We have the best motivation to keep going, Charlie Arthur Curtis. 

I know for sure that if I am ever feeling worried I just have to look at his beautiful face and remember the strength and fight he put up and it gives me the 'kick up the bum' I need.

Thank You for all sticking with us and for helping us to get the charity to where it is today. We hope you continue to follow us and join us as we continue to campaign for better bereavement services following the loss of a baby or child across the UK.