Lantern walk for families to remember lost babies

Lincoln Cathedral will be lit up in pink and blue during a week of events

Families are being invited to join a lantern walk to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week.

The event in Lincoln on 13 October will start at Bishop Grosseteste University and end at the cathedral, where there will be an opportunity to light candles.

Landmarks including the cathedral and hospitals in Lincoln, Boston and Grantham will be lit up in pink and blue between 9 and 15 October.

Rachel Bond, a midwife at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said baby loss was "still a taboo", and the events would give people a chance "to come together and remember their babies as part of a community".

She added: "We want families we have cared for to know that they are still in our thoughts after they leave hospital.”

'Wave of light'

Lincoln Cathedral will have a quiet space for reflection during the week, while hospital chapels will have trees of remembrance where people will be able to add their own messages.

A service of reflection will be held at St Botolph's Church (the Stump) in Boston on 13 October at 14:00 BST.

The week of events will end with a worldwide Wave of Light on 15 October, when people will be encouraged to light a candle at 19:00 BST and watch others doing the same by following the hashtags #BLAW and #WaveOfLight on social media.

The lantern walk has been funded by the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity.

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