Easter Ross mum acknowledges 'great beauty of precious babies gone far too soon' as symbolised on special Tree of Tranquillity in Highlands
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A MUM-of-three from Alness, whose daughter was stillborn, has had her baby's name engraved on a very special Highland tree.
The Tree of Tranquillity, in Inverness Botanic Garden, has recently had more "leaves" added – for the first time since the pandemic struck – remembering lost loved ones.
It is organised by charity SiMBA (Simpson's Memory Box Appeal) who provide memorial boxes, family rooms, groups and events to honour babies who have died, been stillborn or miscarried.
There are a dozen Trees of Tranquillity in Scotland and Yorkshire, which are all unique to SiMBA.
The trees are hand crafted, life sized sculptures, made from copper, where each leaf on the tree represents a baby who has died.
Charlie Gordon, who with partner James Gordon, lost baby Amelia Lily Gordon on June 27 2019, is one mum who has been waiting to see her daughter's leaf on the Tree of Tranquility in Inverness.
Ms Gordon, has been involved in fundraising to support other parents who, like the couple, lose a baby at birth.
She said: "Having our baby's name added to the Tree of Tranquility means we have a beautiful place to go to remember our baby girl.
"I think losing a baby can be very isolating so having the tree with our daughter's name means she’s always acknowledged as being here for a short time in this world.
"The tree symbolises for me, the great beauty of our precious babies gone far too soon."
A spokeswoman for SiMBA said: "It’s been so long since we have been able to attach leaves to any of our Trees of Tranquillity and we know just how important it is for a family to have their leaf attached to a tree close to them.
"So with restrictions lifted and we can more freely travel, we decided to attach some precious leaves.
"We have last week sent an email to everyone who had a leaf/leaves attached to the tees, thank you for the lovely responses to the emails.
"That was very apparent from this trip was that we are reaching out to bereaved families who have recently lost a baby, and also families who have lost a baby many years ago.
"We had leaves to attach from across many decades, this was one of the purposes of our trees; a family tree for babies no matter how small, how recent or how long ago a baby died, providing a beautiful place to honour all babies and a peaceful place for families to visit.
For more information about the Trees of Tranquillity or to request a leaf visit https://www.simbacharity.org.uk/.../trees-of-tranquillity/
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