For Ipswich mum Michelle Dayson, helping parents who have lost a child is a cause extremely personal to her.
After experiencing two miscarriages, the 36-year-old decided to set up a scheme to support others in similar circumstances.
Bear for an Angel was created and since then it has helped more than 200 families through care packages which include, among other items, an eight-inch teddy bear.
“I formed Bear for an Angel in August 2010 after my second loss, which was a missed miscarriage,” said Miss Dayson, who has had a total of four miscarriages and has two boys, Dennis, six, and Brody, one, with her fiance Joe McGunnagle.
“At an emergency scan we were told that our baby had no heartbeat and I wasn’t offered the scan photo.
“A while after I bought a teddy bear for my two babies that I had named Tayten and Teagan and I felt this helped me with my grief as I finally felt like my babies were acknowledged.
“I then set up Bear for an Angel to offer this to other families like mine.”
The packages sent out to people contain the eight-inch teddy bear skin with stuffing, two wishing stars, a certificate and tea light, and a card containing a poem written by Miss Dayson.
The packages, available for parents who have lost children from four weeks gestation to 21-years-old, have been sent as far afield as Australia since the cause was created.
The cost of the package is partly covered by Bear for an Angel, with people able to sponsor a bear for a family who cannot afford it.
Miss Dayson is now appealing for donations to help her to continue supporting bereaved families and in her quest to see Bear for an Angel become a registered charity.
“We want to reach out to other families that have been affected and help them get one of our packages to help with their grief,” she said. “As we are just a small organisation and get no government funding we need donations, sponsors and fundraisers to help us continue our amazing work and to try hard to become a registered charity.”
She added: “I have four angel babies – Tayten, Teagan, Zane and Twinkle – all lost before 13 weeks and I only have Zane’s scan photo. I have bears for each loss.”
For more information, visit www.bearforanAngel.com or search Bear for an Angel on Facebook and Twitter.
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