HEREFORD Cathedral will be lit up to celebrate babies lives this month.
Baby loss awareness week runs between October 9-15 every year, to raise awareness for pregnancy and baby loss.
Multiple charities, including Sands (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity) and Hereford Sands, will unite with bereaved families and parents to commemorate the lives of babies who died during pregnancy, during birth and infancy.
This year, the west doors of the Hereford Cathedral have been lit up by pink and blue lights.
All bereaved parents, families, and friends are welcome to visit and tie ribbons on the west door to commemorate a life lost too soon.
On Friday October 15 at 6:45pm families and friends are also invited to gather in the Lady Arbour Garden, at Hereford Cathedral, where a candlelit act of remembrance will take place.
They will join people around the world in lighting candles at 7pm local time in memory of the baby or babies they have lost.
Linzie Pugh works with Hereford Sands and is one of the organisers of the event.
She and husband Liam Pugh, from Kington in Herefordshire, lost their daughter Lola on May 15, 2011, as she was tragically stillborn.
Mr and Mrs Pugh will be taking part in the event to commemorate their daughter’s life.
Members of Hereford Sands shared what baby loss awareness week means to them.
One member said: "Its a week where it seems "okay" to talk about our babies without people looking uncomfortable."
Another said: "It seems like one week of the year when we're not told that we're "stuck in the past" but that it is okay to share their memory and the huge impact that baby loss has on our lives."
A different member described it as "cathartic", they said: "Being involved with Hereford Sands has been hugely cathartic. We may have all walked different paths, but we all ended up together at the same destination."
Another said: "Proudly able to share our babies and their stories and hopefully support other families that find themselves a member of this community."
A fifth member said they it is a massive support.
"A community that no one ever wants to find themselves a member of, but one that we all are so proud to be able to share and we know we wouldn't and couldn't walk this journey without," they said.
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