A LEDBURY business and a locally-based bereavement trust have joined forces to make sure Baby Loss Awareness Week will not pass unheeded.

The entire month of October is Pregnancy and infant loss awareness month, and Baby Loss Awareness Week is this week, beginning on October 9.

With this in mind, Tanzanite Jewellery, which is moving from the Homend Mall and reopening over the road at 27 The Homend, is holding a jewellery raffle with many jewellery prizes up for grabs.

The raffle will run from their opening date on October 13 through to the December 1, when the raffle will be drawn, and all proceeds will be going to support the work of The Madison Shelbie Trust - Bereavement Trust Services.

A big aim is to raise the profile of the trust and highlight the services it offers.

Trust spokesperson Sam Jones said: "Although we have been offering Bereavement Support throughout Herefordshire and through both Hereford and Worcester maternity departments, it has saddened us to learn from several bereaved parents that they didn’t know we existed.

"All our services are offered for free and all our trained befrienders and counsellors are also bereaved mums themselves."

The experience of losing a child inspired Sam Jones, who is a Ledbury resident to set up the Madison Shelbie Trust.

It is named in memory of her stillborn baby girl, and it offers a wide range of services to help those affected by similar loss.

The aim of the trust is to provide bereavement support at the labour wards in Hereford County Hospital and Worcester Royal Hospital "for parents and families affected by the loss of a baby during pregnancy, labour, birth or shortly after, to help reduce the distress and provide emotional support".