It was with great pleasure and no small amount of pride that I was lucky enough to attend a very special and moving event recently. The Mayor and Mayoress of Burnley City Council were on hand to cut the ribbon and formally open the brand new Butterfly Suite at Burnley General Hospital.
For those of you who don’t know, the Butterfly Suite is a custom-built private birthing suite for those pregnancies that unfortunately do not go as planned. It is the companion of the existing Serenity Suite, which is where the Friends of Serenity charity that I am so keen to promote and be involved in takes its name. It has been nearly 2 years in the making and the sense of pride at it being opened was immense.
Since my friends Jo and Mark lost their unborn son Luke to Trisomy 13 they have been working tirelessly to create a lasting legacy and turn such a negative situation into something positive which will benefit those who unfortunately find themselves in similar scenarios. I am honoured to be a Trustee of the charity and most of you will be aware of the challenges that I undertake each month to try and help raise funds and awareness (if not then links to my Many Silly Adventures and Just Giving pages are here, and in the sidebar).
Back to the opening, it was so rewarding to see the funds that have been raised being put to such a fantastic use and providing an, unfortunately, much needed resource. Hopefully you will agree that the new facility looks amazing and will provide some comfort for those who sadly have to make use of it.
There is regrettably so much more to do; the Charity continues to make Memory Boxes for those families that are unfortunate enough to need them and there is the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the two suites.
My adventures continue a week on Saturday (4th) with the Manchester Spartan Sprint; please have a look at the sites above and if you can spare anything then it will be more gratefully received than you can believe. We can only survive on people's goodwill and, so far, the support has been overwhleming so thank you for everything
One final bit of good news related to this (and I hope they won't mind me putting it on here) but Mark and Jo welcomed a little brother for Luke into the world a week or so ago. Little Toby is apparently doing great and it is testament to Mark and Jo's courage and persistence that he is here. I know he'll be proud when he finds out how much good has been done in the name of his big brother and I'm humbled to be able to contribute in some small way.
Till next time,
DT
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