Continuing to support bereaved parents.

Aim

We are raising money to help us continue to support bereaved parents while battling the impact that Covid-19 has had on our income.

1 IN 250 PREGNANCIES END IN STILLBIRTH

1 IN 4 PREGNANCIES END IN MISCARRIAGE 

We are a UK charity that works across the country to support anyone affected by miscarriage, stillbirth and the death of a baby or child. 

As a charity we are now asking for support after the impact on our income due to Covid-19.

In December 2009 Kirsty McGurrell & Michael Knight were informed that their first child didn't have a heartbeat at 38 weeks gestation of pregnancy, their world fell apart. When Louis was born sleeping four days later, they were given a card by the midwife for them to take Louis' hand & footprints. Two days later they had to leave the hospital with their arms empty. From that day, their hope was that other bereaved parents would have more opportunity of creating memories with their baby. The first batch of memory boxes were made around the kitchen table and 4Louis was created. 

Over 10 years later, 4Louis is an established Charitable Incorporated Organisation who supply memory boxes and many other services to hospitals and hospices throughout the UK and Ireland.

Our Services

• We supply over 250 hospitals & hospices with our memory boxes.
• We provide specialist medical equipment to allow parents more time to spend with their children. This is a cuddle cot for babies (portable mortuary) and also a cuddle blanket for older children.
• We provide facilities and furnishings for dedicated bereavement suites. We have been able to provide the financial support to buy specialist NHS approved furniture that satisfies their infection control policies.
• We make funding available for training nursing staff in bereavement, as this tends not to be a priority in cash strapped trusts.
• We facilitate free bereavement study days for NHS staff.
• Study day speakers. We are often asked to attend hospitals and universities to speak about our loss and subsequent evolution of the charity.
• We provide families an opportunity to visit our workshop and help make the memory boxes which also provides support and therapeutic activity.

It's heart breaking to imagine that a lack of resources available reduce the precious memories and keepsakes captured in the short time the family spend with their baby or child. Or that having no dedicated bereavement rooms on hospital wards mean bereaved parents have to spend time with their baby or child in a normal hospital room surrounded by unsuitable adverts  

The Impact Of COVID-19

COVID-19 has meant all of our fundraising events have been cancelled this year. As the majority of our income comes from these events, our income has been greatly affected. 

At the height of the pandemic some hospitals requested memory boxes suitable for the family of COVID-19 victims. Of course we agreed and sent out over 2000 memory boxes to numerous hospitals. The nursing staff informed us that one item from the memory box was proving invaluable. The blank card was being used to sadly document the last words of COVID-19 patients. The cost of sending out these boxes could not be have be planned for and at a time when our income was at it's lowest. 

Our Memory Boxes & Other Equipment

Items in our memory boxes -

• Baby blanket
• Clay cast to create impressions of baby's hand & feet
• Guess How Much I Love You book
• Scan wallet
• Forget Me Not seeds
• Box containing a glass angel
• Box containing a candle 
• Heart In Their Hands keyring
• SD card
• Inkless wipe to create hand or foot prints
• Certificate of life
• Wisp of hair box
• Blank card
• ID band & cot card

Alongside our memory boxes we also provide Ibraheem's Gift. This pack is suitable when there is a loss of life within the Muslim faith. This contains -

• Two 1m x 1m pure white unstitched cotton burial shroud
• One plain white memory blanket
• One plain white baby hat
• One 5ml Attar bottle (scented oil)
• One Tasbih (Prayer Beads)
• One 'Gift for the Bereaved Parent Remedy for Grief from the Islamic Perspective' book by Zamir hussain

The Louis Bereavement Suite at Sunderland General Hospital Funded By Us

Our Volunteers

COVID-19 Boxes

Thanks for taking the time to visit our page and even if you can't make a donation, please spread the awareness and keep the conversation of baby loss going.

                                  The 4Louis Team x

This project successfully funded on 7th October 2020