19/10/2026
Last week, during Baby Loss Awareness UK Week, St Ives' famous Bridge and Chapel (1 of only 4 remaining in the UK) was lit up to raise awareness, get people talking and give parents space to remember their baby. This was combined with the town's third annual Ribbon Memorial Display outside of St Ives Methodist Church who graciously allowed me to use the fencing outside once again. I wanted to give parents the opportunity to talk about their baby and offer a physical act of remembrance. I ended the week with a roll call of names on this page, it is so important that parents hear their baby's name spoken aloud. Nearly 4,000 people watched this video with every single name read out - 68 babies remembered in total.
Some of you who placed ribbons on the display said: "Today would have been our twins 24th birthday, I love how babyloss awareness week gives me even more reason to say their names and celebrate them," "Such a lovely way to remember our beautiful babies," "Thank you so much for saying their names. Even after 23 years people still shy away from saying my baby girl’s name. Hearing you read her name out loud was emotional but wonderful."
It is a difficult week, but encourages people to talk about it and there is an annual debate in Parliament about baby loss during this week, so its an excellent opportunity to call for change and to be heard. It was announced last month that as of April 2027, parents of babies lost before 24 weeks, including partners, would be legally entitled to 2 weeks bereavement leave. Whilst unpaid, this is huge progress.
The High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire visited the display, prompting him to research into the statistics himself and commented, "my wife and I lost a baby very early in a pregnancy, so I feel very connected to this cause. [...] The Mayor [of St Ives], Cllr Alexander Thompson, and I went to join in on the first day. By the time we got to the memory wall - only an hour or so after it had opened - over a dozen ribbons had already been tied to the fence, many with loving messages and a child’s name." I appeared on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and welcomed visits from That's TV and County Councillor Cllr Alex Bulat who has supported her campaign previously. Eight of St Ives Town's businesses joined in with the week, decorating their windows with pink and blue and a poster of support.
This page was viewed over 67,000 times during Baby Loss Week, which is a massive figure of people in the community who have seen what is being done locally, and may have only just heard about this week for the first time, despite Baby Loss Awareness Week starting in 2002. 1 in 4 people experience a form of baby loss, and 1 in 2 people have or know someone who has experienced baby loss. These are huge figures and I will keep driving awareness in our town and giving people space to remember.
THANK YOU all, for your love and support. Look after yourselves 🩷🩵🤍
Donations welcomed to raise valuable funds for Sands Baby Loss Charity - https://www.justgiving.com/page/stivesbabylossweek
