Forever Stars
684. Michelle Daniels
685. Richard Daniels
A couple from Nottingham have founded the charity Forever Stars to support families who’ve lost a child at birth.
Michelle and Richard Daniels founded Forever Stars after their daughter Emily was stillborn in December 2013. The charity supports families who have lost a child at birth and has raised over £100,000 for the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham to create a state of the art bereavement suite to sit alongside the maternity unit.
The suite, which was completed in 2016, allows parents time and space to grieve. They are now continuing to fundraise to build similar services at hospitals across the Midlands, starting with the City Hospital in Nottingham.
In a personal letter to Michelle and Richard, Prime Minister Theresa May said:
“Your brave decision to create the ‘Forever Stars’ charity after suffering such a tragic loss in your own family is providing tremendous support to grieving parents in Nottingham when they need it most.”
Michelle and Richard said:
“We are very surprised and delighted to receive the Points of Light award. Since we started Forever Stars in 2014, in memory of our daughter Emily, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people both in terms of the money they have donated and the time they have freely given to help us, to help others who will suffer the same devastation of baby loss and stillbirth. Having the recognition from the Prime Minister for the work that we are carrying out has not only given us all a boost for our current projects but will hopefully provide us with a new platform for future projects the charity undertakes. It also helps us continue in our mission to remove the taboo of talking about stillbirth and baby loss, which ultimately allows people to share their precious moments.”