Aimee Green, 23, and Ryan Conroy, 25, have set up ‘Luna’s Fund with an initial goal of raising £10,000 to offer a range of services and financial support to other bereaved parents.
Using their own experience, they hope the money can be used to help grieving families create new memories and look forward to their future.
Luna Valentina Conroy, Aimee and Ryan’s first child, was born sleeping (stillborn) on 29 November 2017, after a text-book pregnancy.
During her birth, Luna’s umbilical cord ruptured and despite the medical team’s best efforts, nothing could be done to save her.
Aimee says: “Over the past three months we’ve learnt that Luna was born into this crazy world to make a difference and impact peoples’ lives.
“Memories, money and time have been crucial in our recovery process and it is important that all grieving families have access to these. In our daughter’s memory, it is our mission to make this happen, and that is exactly what we intend to do.”
While initially Aimee and Ryan hope to offer some practical help to families in ways such as redecorating the baby’s nursery and shopping deliveries, their ultimate aim is to open two safe haven retreats; one in the UK, ‘Luna’s Lodge’, and the other in the sun, Luna’s Legacy’.
Aimee and Ryan visited friends in Portugal for their ‘babymoon’ – a traditional final holiday for the parents before the baby’s arrival – when Aimee was 24 weeks pregnant.
It was here in Portugal where they confirmed the name choice for Luna, having noticed it everywhere they turned. The couple are now appealing for donations through a Facebook page ‘Luna’s Fund on their JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/lunasfund and through their website: lunasloveandlifeafterstillbirth.com, where Aimee is publishing a heartfelt blog on their experience, telling others what happened to Baby Luna.
Aimee said: “My first blog was viewed by over 2,000 people within the first week, which I was overwhelmed by. It has now reached 26,000 views in four weeks and has reached people as far as Australia and every country in between.
“There are so many messages of support, which is amazing. The messages are helping in more ways than people will ever know.”
Luna’s Fund stands for ‘Love and Unity for Neonatal And Stillborns’.
“We are now looking for ways to raise money to keep the memory of our daughter alive and want people to join with us to achieve that aim”, Aimee concludes.