Harrogate charity invites people to light a candle for Baby Loss Awareness Week
Anyone who has lost a baby during pregnancy, or after birth, are being invited to light a candle or leave a message at St Peter’s Church in Harrogate next week.
Reflect, a pregnancy loss support charity, will be holding a ‘Light a Candle’ remembrance event at St Peter’s Church between 12.45pm and 2pm on October 11, as part of Baby Loss Awareness Week 2022.
Baby Loss Awareness Week, now in its 20th year, is an opportunity for everyone in the baby loss community and beyond to come together to remember and commemorate their much-loved and missed babies.
The week also provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the impact of pregnancy and baby loss, the importance that bereavement support plays in the ongoing bereavement journey and of the vital work that is needed to improve pregnancy outcomes.
Tanya Allen, from Reflect, said: “We hope that our ‘Light a Candle’ event will provide an opportunity for local bereaved parents and families to remember their precious babies.
"We also would like anyone dealing with the pain of pregnancy and baby loss to know that there is support available.”
Clea Harmer, Chief Executive of Sands and Chair of the Baby Loss Awareness Alliance, added: “Following their loss, families find themselves on a new path they never expected to be on.
"This year, Baby Loss Awareness Week focuses on the steps along that journey, and how they are different for everyone.
"Some steps along the journey can feel harder than others, but there is always a hand to support anyone when they feel unsteady.
“I hope that ‘Light a Candle’ in Harrogate will help reassure anyone who finds themselves on this journey, whether recently bereaved or longer ago, that there is a community that exists to help with whatever is needed, whether that is advice, support or simply someone to listen and walk by their side.”
Baby Loss Awareness Week is recognised across the world and culminates with the ‘Wave of Light’ on October 15.
This is a special time when people across the world light a candle at 7pm local time and leave it burning to remember all the babies that have died too soon.
For more information about Reflect, visit https://reflectsupport.co.uk/