AN IMPRESSIVE £24,000 was raised at this year’s Lily Mae Foundation golf day and evening dinner dance.
The event – now in its 10th year and held at The Belfry – is a calendar highlight for the charity set up by Ryan and Amy Jackson following the tragedy of their daughter Lily Mae who was ‘born sleeping’ in 2010.
Since then, charity founders, Ryan and Amy Jackson have campaigned furiously and with passion to honour the memory of Lily Mae and all other babies born too poorly, too soon or sleeping.
Their annual fundraising event has grown in size and popularity since its inception and has raised more than £140,000 in the past decade.
Each year teams of golfers gather together to raise money for the charity and are joined by evening guests for a three-course dinner and dance, with a special tribute to ‘those Angel Babies gone too soon from our lives’.
The golf day featured 28 teams of golfers with 114 players battling to win the prestigious competition.
The team competition was won by Joshua James. The winning individual golfer was Wesley Hiscock from team B and M Waste Services.
The evening featured musical entertainment from Ta3ke – a Take That tribute band and radio dj Dan Kelly who also compered the evening.
Ryan and Amy said: “”It is amazing to think that we only set out after losing Lily Mae in 2010, to raise £10,000 to support parents and their families who had lost a baby to stillbirth or neonatal death.
“To have held our 10th golf day and evening dinner dance shows that there is still more to do to break the taboo of baby loss and to raise vital funds to support parents and their families who had lost a baby to stillbirth, neonatal death or medical termination.
“I would like to thank every sponsor, golfer and guest who have supported this event since its inception.
“The support we have received is truly staggering, helping us to have raised over £140,000 from all of our golf days.”
The Lily Mae Foundation gained charitable status in 2012, and has gone from strength to strength.
Its main focus is to provide Memory Boxes to eight local hospitals to help parents create precious memories of their babies. Without these boxes, such memories would be hard to capture.
The Foundation also supports bereaved parents and families through face to face meetings, counselling days, informal support group meetings and baby remembrance services.
The Foundation provides funding support for research into Stillbirth and Neonatal Death to try and reduce the incidence of such tragedies.
For more information or support visit: www.lilymaefoundation.org.
