Trafford Palazzo is hosting its annual Wave of Light Remembrance on Tuesday 15th October 2024 as part of Baby Loss Awareness Week – a special opportunity to mark the lives of babies lost in pregnancy or soon after birth.
Families affected will be welcomed to Trafford Palazzo from 6.30pm, with guests able to light a candle at 7pm to align with the Global Wave of Light, which serves as an annual, worldwide moment of remembrance.
Trafford Palazzo and its iconic fountain will be lit up in blue and pink to create a softly lit ambient environment, bringing bereaved parents, friends and family together in a safe and supportive remembrance.
Guests will be able to buy candles and funds raised from sales and donations at the event will go to support Tommy’s, the largest UK charity funder of research into the causes of miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature birth.
Wave of Light at Trafford Palazzo was held for the first-time in 2022 and is organised in conjunction with Tommy’s and the Rainbow Clinic team of midwives at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Manchester. They provide a specialist service for women and their families in a subsequent pregnancy following previous loss.
Kate Holland, Marketing Director at Peel said: “We are proud to host the Wave of Light remembrance event as part of Baby Loss Awareness Week and create a safe space for families to come together and unite with others across our communities.
“It is a privilege for us to host this each year and support Tommy’s charity who are shedding new light on the causes of stillbirth, miscarriage and preterm birth and have been significantly improving outcomes for mothers, their babies and their families.
“We are so grateful to the amazing team of bereavement midwives at Manchester St Mary’s who join us each year to support families affected by pregnancy and baby loss.”
Jacqui Clinton, Tommy’s Fundraising Director, said: “Right now, half of adults in the UK have experienced baby loss or know someone who has. That’s devastating and simply not good enough. We’re here to challenge the view that it’s ‘just one of those things’; our research is already finding the answers – but there’s still much more to be done. We need to break the silence around baby loss so we can make sure people, no matter who they are and where they live, can access the care and support they need.
“We’re extremely grateful to Trafford Palazzo for hosting this event, connecting a community, spreading awareness, and raising vital funds for our work.
“Together, we can stop the heartbreak and devastation of baby loss and make pregnancy and birth safe – for everyone.”
Tommy’s Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre in Manchester focuses on understanding the causes of stillbirth, developing treatments to prevent it, finding ways to identify which pregnancies are at risk, and working with the NHS to improve antenatal care to help reduce stillbirth rates in the UK.
Between 2017 and 2022, the research centre reduced the stillbirth rate in Saint Mary’s Hospital in Manchester by 28%.
All the money raised at Trafford Palazzo’s Wave of Light event will help Tommy’s to support families during pregnancy, baby loss and premature birth, while Tommy’s scientists continue their work to find out why pregnancy sometimes goes wrong and how it can be prevented.
