A Crymych couple, supported by family, friends and the local community, have raised money to help other parents who face the heartache of losing a baby.

Jemma and Duncan Kirkwood held an afternoon tea to raise funds after the loss of their baby Jac who was born at 23 weeks in February.

The couple raised £2,655 at the event, held at Crymych Rugby Club on June 2 with vintage crockery provided by Ty Bach Twt and a huge amount of support from several Crymych businesses and community groups.

The money will be split between Glangwili Hospital to support development of dedicated bereavement services on the maternity ward and 4Louis, a charity, which provides memory boxes to UK hospitals to offer to parents after the loss of a newborn.

Each memory box includes items such as a clay impression kit, to capture an impression of babies hands and feet; two teddies, one for baby and one for the family; a curl box, for a lock of babies hair, and an acknowledgement of life certificate.

Jemma, a swimming teacher at Crymych Leisure Centre, explained: “The care we had was amazing and we wanted to give something back to the NHS, as well as helping provide something that would support other parents in a similar situation to ourselves.

“The memory box is also really special to us. At a time when we couldn’t take our baby home, we had something that was Jac’s and it helped us explain the situation to our nieces and nephews.”

Family, friends and neighbours rallied around the couple to ensure their fundraising effort was a huge success, especially nieces and nephews Iolo, aged 11, Dion, aged 10, Ina, aged 8 and Nel, aged 4.

Jemma added: “We are hugely grateful to everyone who helped make it happen and to all those who attended and gave so generously. We really were overwhelmed to see hundreds of people – some even queuing right down the street!

“We would particularly like to thank Crymych Rugby Club and Ty Bach Twt who provided the venue and crockery completely free of charge, plus all the businesses, groups and individuals who donated food or prizes for the raffle.”

Clinical Lead Midwife Adele Roberts and Midwife Supervisor Heulwen Harden, who has pioneered bereavement service provision at the Carmarthen hospital, accepted the cheque on behalf of Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB).

Adele said: “We really are overwhelmed by the generosity of this couple and the Crymych community. The money will be used to put the finishing touches to our plans to provide a dedicated bereavement suite, which is being delivered as part of the Phase Two project.

"We recognise that we need to improve the environment for bereaved parents and we are also working on other service enhancements, such as provision of a substantive bereavement post in maternity services.”

"The UHB will continue to work with couples like Jemma and Duncan who have used services, to involve them in the Phase Two plans.

Hywel Dda Health Charities is the official charity of Hywel Dda University Health Board, supporting services and activities above and beyond what the NHS can provide.

If you would like to raise funds for any ward, service or department across the Hywel Dda University Health Board area, please contact us on 01267 239815, fundraising.hyweldda@wales.nhs.uk or visit www.hywelddahealthcharities.org.uk