Alvechurch dad raised almost £97,000 to help families cope with the loss of a newborn baby - The Bromsgrove Standard

Alvechurch dad raised almost £97,000 to help families cope with the loss of a newborn baby

Bromsgrove Editorial 23rd Aug, 2017   0

AN ALVECHURCH dad who who has raised almost £97,000 to help families cope with the loss of a newborn baby has been nominated for an award.

Richard Atkinson, who set up the Baby Ava’s Support Foundation after losing his daughter, has been nominated for the Community Fundraiser of the Year award.

The Midlands Business and Community Award recognises people who go above and beyond in an imaginative way to raise money or goods to help others in a charitable way.

Richard, who lost his baby daughter Ava just hours after she was born in May 2014, has been tirelessly fundraising for the past two and a half years to raise money for the Foundation which create memory boxes, containing a hand and foot print cast kit and a keepsake bag for a lock of the child’s hair, for parents who have suffered the loss of a baby.




“Whilst at the hospital with Ava we were given a keepsake box. These precious memories are there for us to look at and cherish and as a family we took so much comfort from it,” said Richard.

“Unfortunately the charity that supplied ours stopped making them, so I decided to start making my own memory boxes for parents to help ease the pain and give some comfort.


“For a parent that has suffered the loss of a baby, these boxes mean so much.”

Richard recently organised a day of football and family fun in Redditch to raise money for the charity.

As well as a raffle and stalls at the Valley Stadium on May 21, the Ava’s Angels team played the Birmingham Allstars – a team of ex-professional footballers – before going up against the celebrity team of soap stars and musicians, the Once Upon A Smile Team. Including entrance fees and donations on the day, the single event raised almost £9,000.

Richard, who is continuing to organise fundraising events for the charity, added: “It is quite exhausting, but it means so much to people to have these boxes, it’s worth it. There are so many families in need of some comfort and if we can help them, we will.”

Visit https://midlandsbccawards.co.uk/voting/ to find out more or go to http://www.babyavasfoundation.org/ for more information.

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