Remember My Baby charity work

Day to day life can be pretty hectic. It often feels like there's little opportunity to sit and relax after a full day of work, let alone find time to offer help and support in the form of charity work. I'm sure giving our time selflessly is something many of us contemplate and want to do in some way. Often it's about discovering what you as an individual can offer, and finding charity work that you're able to integrate into your life on an occasional basis.

Being a photographer, designer, and illustrator means I'm lucky enough to have a skill set that can be useful in various ways when it comes to volunteer work. One of the charities I offer my time to when I can is called Remember My Baby. It's a UK-based registered charity which offers a gift of baby remembrance photography to all UK parents experiencing the loss of their baby before, during, or shortly after birth.

I cover three hospitals; New Cross Wolverhampton, Russells Hall Hospital Dudley and Walsall Manor Hospital. The charity has many hard-working volunteers all over the UK, visiting many hospitals, giving up their time to help families.

In the charity's own words:

"Our goal is to offer a service of baby remembrance photography to all parents suffering the loss of their baby in every hospital and birth centre across the UK.When a family loses a lifetime’s potential for capturing milestones as their child grows, we will capture a precious baby with parents, siblings and extended family for free. Each family will receive a ‘free gift’ of high resolution digital images.

By offering sensitive and beautiful remembrance photography we hope that the small gift we can provide to families will bring some comfort in the days, months and many, many years to come. It can also help parents with the grief and healing process. Photographs are one of the most tangible mementos that parents can have. These portraits will honour a tiny life that is always loved and cherished and never forgotten."

I wanted to share a short blog about this particular charity for two reasons; firstly many parents don't actually know about the charity itself and the service it offers, until the opportunity to receive help has already passed. Remember My Baby is constantly working at increasing awareness of who we are and what we do, so I'm writing this short post in the hope that if you weren't aware of them, you are now. Word of mouth can be a powerful thing, so you can help by simply mentioning to others about the charity and how the service can help. I know it's not the cheeriest of subjects, but the less people talk about it, the fewer parents and families will know that they can receive help should the worst ever happen.

You can find out a lot more about Remember My Baby's services on their website and Facebook page.

The second reason I wanted to share this information, is because the charity are always looking for additional skilled photographers who are willing to volunteer their time and services. "The death of a baby happens more than anybody cares to talk about. It is simply not enough to have 20 or 30 photographers in large cities. More professional photographers are desperately needed to serve the families requesting our services." Anyone who is interested in joining as a volunteer can find out how here.

Thank you for taking the time to read about one of the charities I volunteer for, please spread the word so that more parents and families can be helped in the future.