Wimborne parents raise £23K to remember lost babies
Twice bereaved father, Neal Riley, has been supporting the Stars Appeal
A memorial for lost babies could soon be built, thanks to over £23,000 raised by a twice bereaved father from Wimborne.
Neal Riley and his wife Els wanted to give back to the Stars Appeal and the Benson Suite at Salisbury District Hospital, after using the space following the loss of their babies, Oscar and Sophie.
The Suite allows bereaved parents to spend as long as they need with their child and to begin the grieving process.
Neal told Greatest Hits Radio they wanted the money to go to something special.
"We've put an idea forward that they're looking to see if they can come up with a memorial area for other babies, not just for Oscar and Sophie, but an area where all parents could use rather than coming into the hospital, that there's an area in the grounds that is managed and maintained," he said.
The money was raised after two golf days. The second of those earlier this year being a 100-hole challenge, which raised a staggering £16,000.
Neal told us that he was stunned when Stars Appeal informed him how much he'd raised in total.
"I didn't think we would get to double figures and then when the stars appeal said 'do you realise what you've raised?', and then they said it's £23,500 and you're like 'Oh!That's quite a lot of money!"
Neal described the Benson Suite as 'a lovely space', which allows parents all the time they need with their baby.
"It's almost like a flat," he said, continuing: "You've got a space that is run by the hospital that is off the back of the maternity ward. It is managed by the teams, but it doesn't feel clinical. It doesn't feel that you're sat in a ward. There's not the background noise. And it was, it's amazing having that space where you can go and grieve, that you can go and spend time as a family."
He told us that the space is incredibly valuable to parents experiencing the tragedy of losing a baby.
"Speaking to other families that have gone through similar other hospitals, other hospitals don't necessarily have the same sort of space. So we're certainly quite lucky at Salisbury that we've got that dedicated space," he said.