Our 'letters to heaven' box in daughter's honour

Ivy passed away suddenly earlier this year

A couple whose daughter died suddenly have installed a post box at a cemetery to allow people to send "letters to heaven".

Michelle and Stephen Milton, from Egremont, Cumbria, wanted to give others grieving something creative and comforting, after losing their four-year-old daughter Ivy, earlier this year.

The white post box at Egremont cemetery is being managed by Egremont Parish Council and is designed for anyone experiencing loss to place letters, birthday cards, poems and pictures inside.

Mrs Milton said: "Ivy would be proud of what we have done and she'd love to use the post box as well, she loved to draw pictures."

All letters inside will be kept confidential and once the box is full they will be recycled within compost used for flower beds and planters within the cemetery, the council said.

Mrs Milton, 40, came up with the idea after seeing it being done in a different area of the country on TikTok.

Michelle and Stephen Milton have installed the post box at Egremont cemetery

She was also inspired after Ivy's fellow pupils and teachers at Orgill Primary School drew paintings in her memory.

"I thought it [post box] was a lovely thing to do and I really wanted to do it here," Mrs Milton said.

"It's absolutely for anyone to use, children and adults, we hope it will give people some comfort."

The couple now want to place another post box at Distington Hall Crematorium in Workington.

Ivy was born with spina bifida - when the bones of the spinal cord do not fuse properly during a baby's development - and used an electric wheelchair.

Mrs Milton said her condition did not get in the way of Ivy's "fun character".

"She just lit up any room wherever she went, she had everyone laughing and smiling," she said.

"She was just so happy, regardless of anything she went through."

Ivy was known for being a happy and "always smiling"

Mrs Milton said Ivy became poorly during a trip to Asda supermarket in Workington.

Shortly after, the family were told she needed open heart surgery and it was discovered she had sepsis.

"It was when the hospital rang us to go back up after she had gone in for a stent, I knew there was something wrong because the nurse that came to see us said 'oh they won't be a minute' and I could tell she had been crying, we knew then," she said.

Following complications from the surgery, Ivy died a day later on 3 February.

"There was nothing else they could do," said Mrs Milton.

"It was a shock, we never thought anything like this would happen."

The couple wanted to have Ivy at home with them before her funeral but found it was only possible to do so using a cuddle blanket or cuddle cot.

A cuddle blanket, which keeps a body cool after death, allows families to take loved ones home after they have passed away.

They can cost around £5,000 but not every hospital or funeral director has one.

Mrs Milton said Eaves Funeral Directors, in Whitehaven, went "above and beyond" to get them a cuddle blanket for Ivy.

"We are pleased we brought her home, she was in her own bed," she added.

Stephen and Michelle have raised more than £26,000 following Ivy's death

The couple has raised more than £26,000 so far to donate cuddle blankets, and cuddle cots to funeral homes across the region including at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital where Ivy died.

"We don't want anyone worrying about having to find one," she said.

"I would highly recommend the cuddle cots, take your child home, spend that valuable time with them until the day of the funeral, spend as much time with them as possible."

Ahead of Ivy's birthday on 5 November, Mrs Milton said she is donating a hamper to the maternity ward at Whitehaven Hospital for the first baby girl born on that day, in Ivy's honour.

The family is also holding a fundraising event in January ahead of the first anniversary of Ivy's passing to raise more money for cuddle cots.