Happy New Year

Wishing you all a Happy New Year. 

2018 has been a fantastic year for the charity and we have achieved so much, none of which would have been possible without your help and support. 
2019 has already been busy and looks to stay that way. We know we are going to be kept on our toes but we also know that it is going to be a very positive year for us and the families we support.

Please take a look at our first Newsletter of the year.

https://shoutout.wix.com/so/c8MWEhK7e?fbclid=IwAR3-dJK_nLnx0vSPacprYZaQvcAcAf5e5YSvu_qN81iXZyNqClO2pH4_eUc#/main

Thursday 13th December saw us host our 3rd Christmas Memorial service.

Each year the event has been attended by more and more families. This year saw not only many new families that we have been supporting but also families that have been with the charity since the beginning. When we first thought of holding a Memorial Evening we were not sure if many people would attend but each year we have been overwhelmed by the amount of families that have come along but also the support we have been shown by them.

The memorial has become a place where lots of us meet up to see how we have been through the last 12 months. It feels like a family coming together for their annual reunion. We start the preparation for the event much earlier in the year but November and the start of December becomes really busy for us as we begin to get the baubles and gifts ready for the night.

This year we made up many more baubles and bought lots more candles. The baubles are always a lovely way for the families attending to write a message to their angels, many leave them on the tree throughout the Christmas period whilst some take them home to put on their own tree. The tree always looks beautiful and it definitely shows how loved our angels are.

Every year we make up a small gift for each person who attends the event, it is our way of showing them that they are being thought of and that we understand how important it is to be there for each other through the toughest times of your lives.

This year we were very honoured to have the choir from local primary school, Windmill Music Academy, come along to start the evening by singing some Christmas carols. The children were fantastic and definitely a brilliant way to begin.

Once the choir had finished Father Andrew said a few words before beginning the 'Roll of Honour'. This year we received so many names to add to our Honour Roll and if the families were not able to attend the event someone from the charity lit their candle for them. We also take pictures of the candles to send to those who couldn't make it to make them feel part of the evening. This year we lit 180 candles.

Once all the candles had been lit the lights in the church were lowered and music was played allowing time for people to have some quiet reflection time, prayer or just to think about their precious angels. It was very emotional seeing so many candles and knowing that each one represented a child that was no longer with their family. 

We always have tea, coffee and juice available, and for the last 2 years we have been so lucky to have staff from Beaverbrooks the Jewellers donate their time to help at the event. It really does mean a lot to us when we have other agencies want to come along and help us and the families we support.

The evening is finished with a raffle, this year we had some amazing prizes donated.

We would like to say thank you to everyone who came on the night and those that were unable to attend in person but were still part of the night. Without the help and support of all of you we would not be able to continue to offer the current services we do.

Fundamentally the evening is about remembering and honouring our special angels but through the raffle and other donations we were able to raise a fantastic £232.

2019 is already looking to become an amazing year for the charity and we hope you all join us at next years Memorial Service.

A grieving family

Our family consists of a grieving mummy, grieving grandparents, grieving uncles, grieving auntie & grieving cousins.

We are no different to any other bereaved family.

We all grieve in different ways and at different times, sometimes we try to talk to each and say how we are feeling, but the painful reality is our family will always have one person missing.

Each year, at the end of September, begins a difficult process for us as this was the time we found out about Charlie's condition. October and November consisted of hospital visits, research and trying to be positive.

We are human and at times we all feel sad. There are the ‘what if's’ and ‘we wish things could have been different’. We cry, we get depressed, but there's no shame in feeling all of these things and asking for help if we need it.

This year will be Charlie's 6th birthday, every year on the 29th December we all get together. We try to do something that Charlie would have wanted to do, we talk about what he would be doing now, and what he would look like, this is Charlie’s day and the only day we take off from the daily running of the charity.

Charlie will always live on, his legacy we have created in his name has helped so many and will continue to do so for many years to come. For such a little boy he has made an enormous impact on the world.

Here is our last Newsletter for 2018. 

https://shoutout.wix.com/so/22MQijSjD?cid=c741e046-35ed-4974-9e3a-e95daa308071#/main

Thank you for all of the continued help and support you have shown to us and the families we support. We cant wait to see what we will be able to share with you in our first Newsletter of 2019 in January.

If there is anything you would particularly like us to feature in our Newsletters please let us know and we will try to incorporate it. 

We are always looking for articles/stories to share on our blog. We would really like to hear some of your inspirational stories and sharing them with other families can help them to see that what they are going through is "normal". Grief/bereavement is never easy and the loss of a baby or child is the hardest. Knowing that you are not alone can sometimes make a huge difference and seeing that others have felt the way you have and have experienced those 'difficult thoughts' really can be therapeutic.
We are always happy and proud to talk about Charlie and always appreciate it when people want to hear all about him. We never tire of meeting new families and hearing all about their little ones and we understand how important it is to be able to talk and remember them.

If you are happy to share your experiences you can email them to charliesangelcentre@hotmail.com

This week saw the culmination of a years work come to life.

Over the last 12 months we have conducted a survey into the levels of support for families following the death of a baby. 
We had 3500 responses from all across the UK. This meant that many NHS trusts were represented.

From the responses we received it highlighted that 45% of the families described the support they got as 'poor'. This wasn't really a surprise to us as we are usually contacted by those families that have not been given help from the professionals who should have been there for them.

Throughout the survey we were in close contact with news reporter for Capital Radio, Bethan Davis. 

Bethan has known us since the charity began in 2013,when she worked at Radio Aire, and really helped us to get our story out to the people of Leeds. 
We were more than happy to work alongside her as we know she has been as passionate as we are about bereaved families getting the support and help they need when and where they need it.

Bethan put in a Freedom of Information request to find out how many bereavement midwives there are across the country and what hours they are available. She spoke with several of the families we have worked with to get a good understanding of how poor the support can be. She also came to our office to see what we do on a day to day basis as well as getting an update from us all on how we think things are progressing.

Initially Bethan was going to put out the story on Capital Radio in Yorkshire but she decided to approach her boss to see about launching it across the country. 

Thankfully he said YES. 

Tuesday 9th October was the start of Baby Loss Awareness week and seemed to be the perfect day to go live with the campaign. 6am on Capital Radio news the story began. Every news report on the hour throughout the day continued the campaign with interviews playing from the founder of the charity, Carrie Curtis, and other co-founders and trustees. There was also a phone in section for people to express their ideas and views.
The airtime this has given us is another step forward in our plan to get a bereavement midwife in every maternity unit across the UK.


If you would like to have a read of the full report please click on the link below.
https://cdn.fbsbx.com/v/t59.2708-21/43881675_382198505655308_4046259002747650048_n.pdf/Bereavement-Survery-conducted-by-Charlies-Angel-Centre-Foundation.pdf?_nc_cat=101&oh=c4aff13004789d7a26f8da8560cadc3d&oe=5BC536A7&dl=1

To hear some of the interviews aired on Capital Radio please click on the link below.
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.capitalfm.com%2Fyorkshire%2Fradio%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fcalls-for-more-investment-in-bereavement-midwives%2F&h=AT0i2gLo0S641DLn_feN0iXehIkTQqFDN79CROkZsLU3xRh-IXUA8KuhrBAlEu8UI_NZ68vTRS9Jda3u5IKwG8hvTLG8mN2PTvgMbHT7WwgwYUKv2Td_EiUMHDYSF_L_pwNPaGfAQ6zDddGgN4JYgz6feU-NfGQMnv0oXPOL-izwvxC-Cg8HxFmM92Ez2q24nCymXlO-8R44AhSUL4Yb2l4pVZpSWtCmn5We1qmczIY2HxotVNkqEGVG3TDPRZvVTlb3qsMwAi5kn6mdOFsS7UEqfHLD1EKsyg6-VKMX-Qu8nTJzOi0wdt3WPedOwkqb_nwIZN1orp3WJI-2581lhaY1lAGaXJZggt1xLpK4G8BIY2c5sRUDbGrTPciJRAnWEbl3oiboQdzo-Za71KzUsNk77w7ZCQ


We hope that with all the extra publicity into child and baby loss that something will get done about the lack of professional support.
We will never stop fighting for better bereavement support and will always be there for those families let down by a system that should be there for them.

Saturday 29th September saw us host our 3rd Charity Ball & Award Night. 
Our Charity Ball is a beautiful and inspirational event which not only brings awareness of baby and child loss but it highlights the amazing people we have had the pleasure to work with. 
We like to use the event to celebrate the achievements that we have made over the last 12 months and also celebrate the achievements of others within the charity as well as outside agencies and individuals.

After a busy couple of hours on Saturday afternoon the room was all ready for the guests to start arriving.
We were really pleased to have photographers  Chris & Jen come along to take pictures throughout the night.

It still amazes us how so many people want to help us.
Guests were greeted with a smile and a welcome drink as they entered the venue quickly followed by their first photo opportunity.

We were very happy to welcome our host for the event, Fay Louise Purdham, who wore the most stunning dress. She was so enthusiastic and wanted to find out everything about the charity and the work we do to support families. 

Fay gave a welcome to all the guests and later helped announce the winners of the awards as well as then handing out the medals & awards. 

The first award was for Young Fundraiser. 

We had many nominations and we found this category the hardest to choose a winner as all the children put up for the award deserved recognition for their commitment. 

In the end we decided to have a runners up prize which was given to a group of girls who have raised lots of money over the last year for charity. The girls had put so much effort into raising money despite their young years and truly deserved their medals.

The winner of the Young Fundraiser was Alexander (AJ) Murphy. AJ decided to raise money for charity after his brother, Oliver, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia last August aged 18 months. AJ has taken part in lots of events from selling wristbands and cakes to running the 1K Reindeer run. In total he has raised over £1000 in just over 12 months.

Raising money for the charities was AJ's way of helping him cope whilst also giving back to those that had helped his family.

Best Bereavement Service (Hospital or Community) was our next award. The winners of this award were Leeds Bereavement Liaison Office. They deal with all the deaths within the trust and liaise with families, police, coroners office and many more. They make sure that families are supported and helped during a distressing time and can trace family members and arrange funerals for those who have no next of kin. They try to make the process a little easier on the relatives.

Bereavement Support Worker Award was awarded to Sharon Mobbs from the Bereavement Liaison Office. Sharon deals with all the baby and child deaths within the trust. She was nominated by many families for the level of help and support she gave them at a time when they were dealing with the most difficult loss of their lives. She would make sure that the families were kept fully informed as well as referring onto appropriate agencies for extra support. The families who put Sharon forward all said that if she had not been there they don't know how they would have coped.

Midwife of the Year went to Alison Bowes, Bereavement Midwife for Leeds NHS Trust.

A specialist bereavement midwife is someone who understands what the families are faced with following a loss. They are there to support families following a fatal diagnosis as well as families that lose their child during birth or soon after. Alison was nominated by families who she has supported and who have said that her support was amazing.

Inspirational Individual of the Year went to Hayley Martin.

Hayley and her husband Scott were given the devastating news last year that their much loved baby had a condition called Bilateral Renal Agenisis and that she would not live long after birth. Despite this they chose to bravely continue with the pregnancy to try and help other babies by donating their Ava-Joy's tissue. They have since decided to build a legacy for Ava-Joy and will help families by providing them with 4D scans and Memory Making kits. Hayley would also like to eventually train as a Bereavement Midwife. 

Corporate Fundraiser went to LHA Car & Commercial.

LHA have supported the charity throughout the last year and are continuing their support. They have regular 'bulb & puncture repair' days where customers make a donation to us instead of being charged for the work carried out by the garage. They have also been sponsors for events and have donated prizes for our raffles. In the last year they have raised well over £1000.

Oustanding Fundraiser went to Mark Wilson. Despite having Parkinson's Mark has never let it get him down and rather than just sitting back he decided to raise funds for Parkinsons UK. He has organised and hosted many Comedy Nights and so far he has raised £25,200.

Special Thank You Award went to Sarah Markillie. Sarah set up Middleton Mini Tots after finding that there was very little to do in her area. She now runs a successful group which provides a safe and enjoyable place for mums and dads to come with their children. They provide friendship, food, activities and even trips.

Outstanding Volunteer went to Paul Scully-Sloan

Paul set up the first closed international Daddys with Angels group in December 2010. The group provides a safe place for male family members to open up following the loss of a child. Unfortunately Paul was not able to attend due to illness so a friend/colleague came to accept the award on his behalf.

Special Recognition Award went to Rhiann & Amy Curtis and Chloe Hill for their enthusiasm and commitment to helping the charity in any way they can. This has been through fundraising, baking cakes and making up hundreds of bereavement packs. 

The evening was a great success and we raised the fantastic amount of £3000.

We look forward to seeing everyone again at our 4th Charity Ball in 2019.

Thank You so much to everyone of you that has supported and helped us to make 2018's Ball such an amazing night.