Butterflies flutter in to help Lincolnshire Co-op's Baby Loss Awareness campaign

October 9 to 15 is 2022’s Baby Loss Awareness Month, and Lincolnshire Co-op’s funeral homes have been collecting small crochet butterflies in a combination of white and either yellow, light green, pink or blue, or alternatively in plain white, yellow, light green, pink or blue.

As part of the Baby Loss Awareness campaign, the butterflies will be available to collect during October 2022 in our funeral homes by people who have lost a child or know someone that has.

The butterflies are still coming in, and one of the biggest donations see during the campaign was more than 100 butterflies, who were made by the church which were crocheted and handed in to St Mary’s church in Horncastle.

The scheme was the brainchild of Rev. Lynne Hawkins, the Curate of the Horncastle Group of churches, who said: “We always encourage our members to get involved in local initiatives, and last year we knitted hats for ECHO.

"Our members were really keen to get involved with this initiative, and one of our members made 50 all by herself!”This year marks the 20th anniversary of national Baby Loss Awareness Week, and Lincolnshire Co-op’s Funeral Commercial Support Manager Jessica Wilson said: “Baby Loss Awareness is an important cause that provides an opportunity for us to come together as a community and support those whose lives have been impacted by this issue.

“We support the campaign in a number of ways, including sharing important resources and participating in the Wave of Light during Baby Loss Awareness Week. We also appealed to local people to crochet butterfly keepsakes which will be collected by colleagues at our funeral homes and given to those affected by baby and pregnancy loss.

“The response from the public has been inspiring and we’ve already received an amazing amount of butterflies. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to the cause.”

To mark the occasion, all United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust hospital sites will be lit up pink and blue.

To start the week (Sunday 9 October to Saturday 15 October) there is a memorial service being held at St Botolph’s (The Stump) church in Boston at 4pm on Sunday 9 October, or the service can be watched virtually via Zoom. This is an opportunity for anyone touched by pregnancy or baby loss to reflect and come together.

There will also be a tree of remembrance at Lincoln County Hospital (LCH) and Pilgrim Hospital Boston (PHB) to allow patients and staff to leave tribute messages. Candles will also be available to light in remembrance.

St Ann’s chapel in Lincoln Cathedral will also be open for the week for anyone to light a candle and write a message. Bereavement support from the Trust will be available at the Cathedral from 11am until 2pm on Monday 10 October, Wednesday 12 October and Friday 14 October.

To end the week, the Trust will be joining the global ‘wave of light’ by lighting a candle at 7pm on Saturday 15 October in memory of every baby who has died. The Trust will be sharing a virtual service prior to the lighting of a candle.