Ribbon display in Clacton-on-Sea remembers lost babies
Annual event creates a sea of ribbons along Clacton seafront, sparking conversations and fostering community support during baby loss awareness week
In anticipation of Baby Loss Awareness Week, running from the 9th to the 15th of October, Maria Gormley, Supportive Care Coordinator at SANDS, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, provided insight into the significance of the week and the ribbon display she organizes annually in Clacton-on-Sea.
This year marks the 21st Baby Loss Awareness Week, with events planned across the nation to commemorate the lives of lost babies. A poignant tradition within this week is the "Wave of Light" on the 15th of October, where people light candles in remembrance.
Among the various activities, Maria has orchestrated a ribbon display for the fifth consecutive year.
Maria explained the choice of ribbons, saying, "Sands have said, Let's go out and let's do ribbon displays. We do pink, white and blue. So we've got ribbons for everybody, who've said they didn't get to know the sex of their baby."
She shared her motivation, stating, "I lost my daughter, Laura. Laura was an unexplained still birth and back then there was no help. There was nothing. There was nowhere to turn. I was young at the time and I felt so alone."
Maria expressed the emotional impact of the ribbon display, saying, "It looks so beautiful and I mean the photos don't do it justice. When you go down and you see it, it stops people and it it sparks up conversations about baby loss and people just can't walk past it."
"I've spoken to people and they've said it just brings me so much comfort to come here... to have this and remember my baby. It's just amazing, it really is."
Reflecting on the importance of initiating conversations about baby loss, Maria remarked, "People don't know what to say. That's the crux of it really. You know if you if you start saying 'I lost my baby' - they kind of just look at you. They don't know what to say and they don't want to say the wrong thing a lot of the time either.... So they kind of back away."
The ribbon display, located along the Clacton Seafront by the Memorial Gardens, will be in place for the entirety of Baby Loss Awareness Week, providing a visual tribute to lost babies and a source of comfort for grieving parents.