A Preston couple have repaid the kindness they received by supporting others in memory of their daughter.
Angela Rotherham and Ant Potts, whose baby daughter Sophia Grace was born sleeping, are honouring her memory through supporting other families who experience pregnancy loss, stillbirth, and neonatal death.
Through fundraising, Angela and Ant have raised £3,558, in honour of Sophia Grace to help support the Baby Beat charity and other families experiencing loss.
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The money will enable the purchase of items such as an Abi Cuddle Cot from Abigail’s Footsteps and Aching Arms Bears, which are gifted to bereaved families as part of memory making.
Following Sophia’s birth, Angela and Ant were cared for by the unit’s specialist bereavement team in its original suite, equipped with a cuddle cot that allowed Sophia to remain with her parents for five precious days.
Angela said: “The room, cot, bear, and memory box were all helpful to us, and we want others to benefit in the same way. We are so grateful to our family, friends, and colleagues for supporting us through fundraising.”
They also received a memory box from baby loss charity 4Louis, filled with keepsakes and mementos, and an Aching Arms bear gifted in a gesture of comfort and solidarity from one bereaved family to another.
Additionally, a £3,000 donation was made to Baby Beat in Sophia’s memory by Angela’s employer, insurance broker Ardonagh, supporting the transformation of a second bereavement and family suite.
Initially, much of the fundraising originated from an online donation page set up around Sophia’s funeral.
Future funds are being raised through Sophia’s Scents, a range of hand-crafted scented wax melts, candles, whipped soaps, and bath crystals created by Angela.
Angela said: “All profits are for baby loss charities in our girl’s legacy and for all the angel babies gone too soon.
”October’s profits were donated to Blackburn Rovers Football Club’s dad’s group, run by Maggie’s Stillbirth Legacy, which Sophia’s daddy attends.
”I also attend Maggie’s group meetings, so November’s profits are going to Maggie’s, with December’s, along with Sophia’s Christmas money, going to Baby Beat.”
Joanna Allitt, fundraising manager for BabyBeat said: “Angela and Ant have repaid the kindness they received many times over, they have created a truly heart-warming legacy that ensures she will always be remembered.”
Baby Beat supports the Royal Preston Hospital’s Sharoe Green Maternity Unit, which as well as providing maternity care for mothers-to-be from Central Lancashire is also home to Lancashire and South Cumbria’s specialist Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) – which cares for 400-450 premature and poorly babies annually.
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