PARENTS and grandparents who have experienced the devastating loss of a baby came together for a special memorial event at a Worcester church.

The remembrance event, included moving poems read by Sylvia Crump from the Worcester-based charity Cedar Tree, which offers free and confidential support for those who have experienced pregnancy loss, Chaplaincy volunteer Sue Parry and bereavement support midwife Trudy Berlet.

There were also blessings and the chance to light a candle for a loved one. The service was arranged by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and led by Worcestershire Royal Hospital chaplain Dr Rev David Southall.

Sue Parry said: “It is important to have a safe space to remember and to remember in a way they feel they want to do it. So many memorial services are too structured - this is a very different event, which can allow families to remember in their own way and at their own pace.”

Lisa Ventura, who lost her baby Frankie in November 27 2013, when she was 33 weeks pregnant, said: “It was beautiful. I haven’t been able to come for the last few years due to family bereavement. It is a lovely way to remember them.”

Emily Tranter said: “It was beautiful - it is somewhere we can come. We are all grieving. I think sometimes it is nice for those who have lost a child to see other people here with their new rainbow babies.”

Rev Southall said the event was for all. He said: “We try to get away from calling it a ‘service’ so that if you are a person of no faith or religious it should be able to meet people’s needs irrespective of that.”

Organiser Trudy Berlet said: “It’s really important if family want to remember they are able to remember in their own space. To know that people can appreciate what they’ve been through and the baby they’ve lost.”

After the service, parents could place the name of their baby on a leaf and tie it to a branch on a memory tree.

White roses, donated by Worcester Funeral Service, were given to attendees as they left the church.

The service took place at St Peter’s Baptist Church, in Eden Close, on Saturday, October 13.