Emma Shepherd to host bake and craft sale to raise money for stillbirth and neonatal death charity in memory of newborn son

Emma Shepherd is holding a bake and craft sale in memory of her first-born son, Ethan

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Local mum Emma Shepherd is holding a ‘bake and craft’ sale to raise funds for Sands (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death) charity after they provided her with support following the death of her first-born son, Ethan.

Aged just 28-minutes-old, Ethan tragically died after he was born prematurely in June 2014 due to serious heart defects, including an underdeveloped left side of the heart, narrow arteries, a narrow aortic valve and a ‘hole’ in the wall between the heart’s two upper chambers.

Emma, who works in cardiology, hopes the event will raise money in Ethan’s memory to provide other families with help at Royal Oldham Hospital.

The mother-of-three said: “Having been thrown into a new world of grieving parents, I received a lot of support from Sands. From support groups, memory boxes and cold cots, they helped me and my husband, Ste, through the early days, helping us make little memories and learn how to cope with what we were feeling.”

She added: “My wish is to try and raise money to help Oldham Hospital Sands Group with anything else needed to help grieving parents in their time of need.”

Sands is a UK charity that works across the country to support anyone affected by the death of a baby, improve the care bereaved parents receive from health care and other professionals, and reduce the number of babies who do die by funding research and working closely with other organisations to create a world where fewer babies die.

In 2015, Emma raised £2,000 for the cause, from a similar bake and craft event. The funds went towards a cold cot at Royal Oldham Hospital. Cold cots, also known as cuddle cots, allow parents who are dealing with the death of a baby to spend more time with them as part of the bereavement process.

The bake and craft sale will be held on Sunday 1 October from 1pm until 4pm at Butterworth Hall in Milnrow, offering crafted items such as jewellery, paintings, cards, personalised gifts, books, Body Shop toiletries and cosmetics, a tombola stall and candles.

There will also be lots of cakes, hot beverages and baked goods available for purchase.

All proceeds will go to the Sands charity.