St Mary’s and St Barnabas Church shine light on baby and pregnancy loss

St Mary’s and St Barnabas Church in Thatcham are shining a light on dealing with baby loss.

St Mary’s lit its building pink and blue in recognition of all those affected by baby loss in pregnancy and early life.

The pink and blue floodlighting colours stayed for an entire week to remember the babies that it says are very much missed in the community.

This was in addition to the baby loss memory tree which visitors could tie a ribbon to, in memory of a baby.

This is available in the churchyard of St Mary’s and is considered a really moving symbol for the community.

So far, there are around one hundred ribbons tied to the tree, making it visible from quite a distance.

Rev Mark Bennet said: "It's a quiet thing because it is very personal, it is an experience people don't talk about much.

"One of the reasons I wanted to highlight it is because I remember last year I took a funeral for a couple that lost a baby. I met them in the church and took them to the tree and said you are not on your own."

He added: "People don't know how to talk about it.

"People can bring their own ribbons and tie it to the tree, it only takes a minute. You can go with friends or privately without anybody seeing you."

There are still ribbons available to be tied to the tree, people may also bring their own ribbons and take time to make their memorable mark.