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Pages of Hope Project
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Pages of Hope Project background Pages of Hope Project inspiration The aim of the Pages of Hope Project The purpose of the Pages of Hope Project How will the Pages of Hope Project 15 work? Who can get involved? What is the idea of the Pages of Hope Project? A little more about the baby loss grief journals Find out more about the Pages of Hope Project 15
Pages of Hope Project background
I’ve been a bit quiet across our social media, etc for the last couple of months, which is odd as I’d anticipated that when the baby memorial journals arrived (and they arrived much earlier than expected too!), I’d be wanting to shout about them to the world. I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of anything I’ve created before.
But instead of shouting from the rooftops, I’ve actually felt quite overwhelmed. Creating the journals has been such a labour of love during 2024. It’s required me to revisit places long packed away, but this time from a totally different place. The anxiety of ordering the journals to be printed (no going back!) and receiving them was pretty intense. The relief of them being perfect when they arrived just filled my heart with so much love; not least for being able to do this in memory of my baby on what should be her 18th birthday year.
I quietly added the journals to my website here and my Etsy shop in November and, rather than quickly forging ahead; I have taken the time to let that feeling of overwhelm pass and think about why it hasn’t felt right to jump right into telling everyone about the baby memorial journals as soon as they arrived. I want them to make a real impact wherever they possibly can and not just be a new addition to my collection.
Pages of Hope Project inspiration
And this is where the idea of the Pages of Hope Project 15 transpired. These journals have only come into being at the end of 2024, because of bereavement midwife Kelly Harris. Kelly was looking for a comforting resource to be able to gift to parents in her care at the worst time in their lives. And this is exactly what has inspired the thinking behind the Pages of Hope project.
The aim of the Pages of Hope Project
"The Pages of Hope Project’s aim is for the baby memorial journals to be available to bereaved parents as gifts from their local bereavement suites, or charity support groups as an ongoing self-care tool to help cope with grief."
The purpose of the Pages of Hope Project
How can the baby memorial journals help?
There is nothing in this world that can take away the pain of losing a precious baby. We each have to travel our own individual life long journey of grief in our own way. Because of this, I don’t share my detailed story over the years within the baby loss journals. Instead, the journals are self-led to help parents:
- To keep a connection to their baby through writing to them.
- Release difficult feelings that are too hard to speak.
- Cherish precious memories and if it feels right, keep creating them.
- Discover individual self-care tools over time. We are all different and writing the things that are helpful down makes it so much easier to reach for them on the hardest of days.
- Create personal boundaries and think about the different ways in which people might grieve the same loss.
The contents have been carefully thought out and you can find out more about them (and my experience that has led me to create the journals) via the relevant links further on.
There are no timed tasks, or rules in the journal. In fact it actively encourages people to only take from the journal what resonates with them at any particular time.
How will the Pages of Hope Project 15 work?
With the permission of bereavement midwife Holly, just before Christmas, I donated 15 baby memorial grief journals to Russells Hall Hospital to gift to bereaved parents, (the hospital that cared for us when we lost our baby) as the very first step of the Pages of Hope Project.
I would love to inspire others to do the same for their local hospital’s maternity bereavement suites or charity support groups.
Who can get involved in the Pages of Hope Project?
Bereavement midwives looking for comforting resources for maternity bereavement suites.
Bereaved parents who would like to do something for other parents in memory of their baby.
Baby loss charities supporting local bereavement suites.
Baby loss charity support groups.
What is the idea of the Pages of Hope Project?
The target is to raise an amount of £280 which will enable me to pack up and send your local maternity bereavement suite/charity support group as part of the Pages of Hope Project:
15 Baby Memorial Grief Journals.
15 matching pens and pen pouches.
15 personalised “Donated with love in memory of ….” cards.
This gives a 15% discount on the standard price of the journals and a part contribution to the postage and packing (we cover the rest).
15% of the proceeds from each of the baby memorial journals purchased directly from my website, Etsy or TikTok shop will go towards continuing to donate the journals locally to Russells Hall Hospital Maternity Bereavement Suite. So every individual book sold will also help towards the Pages of Hope Project’s aim. Russell's Hall Hospital is where I was cared for when we lost our precious baby, so it feels right for us to personally support the bereavement suite there.
Charities raising funds for the Pages of Hope Project will be welcome to add complementary branding to the baby memorial journals via packaging, bookmarks, donated by cards, etc.
A little more about the baby loss grief journals
- They are printed and sewn bound (rather than glue bound) here in the UK by specialists in book printing and binding.
- They are not mass produced.
- The pages are lovely and thick to allow for images, etc to be glued into the scrapbook style memory pages.
- There are lots of pages purely for writing as well as gentle prompts.
Find out more about the Pages of Hope Project 15
I’ve created two separate help pages for the Pages of Hope Project, as the information both you and I need differs slightly depending on your circumstances if you’d like to join the project. Each of the pages explains a little more about me, the journal contents (including a sneak peek flip book), the project and next steps.
If you have any further questions at all about the Pages of Hope Project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via the relevant Pages of Hope project links shown above.
I wish with all my heart that there was no need for these journals. I hope so much that they can be of help to those who find comfort in writing, even it's simply small moments of peace over time.
“Tears are words that need to be written”
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