A BEREAVED mother who managed to overcome her grief to launch a successful charitable trust has opened up about how she helps to support families through heartbreaking and traumatic times.

Val Isherwood, 53, of Barber Green in Grange, established the Tigerlily Trust in December 2012, just a year after losing her daughter at 31-and-a-half-weeks.

She has spoken to The Mail as June

is Sands Awareness Month – a month when the charity works hard to increase awareness of stillbirth and neonatal death and the everlasting impact experience when a baby dies during pregnancy, at birth or shortly afterwards.

In 2018 Sands are calling on everyone to help break the silence around stillbirth and neonatal death.

Although Tigerlily Trust is not affiliated with the Sands Charity they work tirelessly to provide support to bereaved parents in Cumbria and the Morecambe Bay area.

"Tigerlily Trust came about to support bereaved parents locally because there was no support of the kind I wished I'd had when I lost my baby girl

"After Lily's funeral I started searching the internet for support, I was desperate to speak to another bereaved mum," said Mrs Isherwood.

This is when Val realised there was no support locally, and the nearest was Blackpool, somewhere that was too far for her to travel when she was grieving.

In 2010 Val had ovulation stimulation treatment because she was not getting pregnant naturally, it was unsuccessful and extremely traumatic.

Two months after the treatment Val and her husband Patrick's dreams came true, they got pregnant naturally.

She said: "We were completely over the moon, we thought this is it, our lives are now complete, we are going to have our little family."

In the July they were told Lily was small for her gestational age and they needed to go to Newcastle for extra tests – the outcome of that being she had Trisomy 18 which is Edwards Syndrome.

Val explained: "We heard those awful words not compatible with life.

"I wish they would change that phrase because that just stays with you forever.

"So really at that moment, our whole lives fell apart."

The couple were told not to expect her to live past 28 weeks, but she got to 28 weeks, then to 29 and on to 30.

It was at 31-and-a-half-weeks, on October 16, 2011, that the Isherwood's were told their precious daughter Lily had died.

Lily was born the following Friday morning at 9.10am. The couple of weeks leading to Lily's funeral were a busy and traumatic time for Val as she wanted everything to be perfect for her little girl.

She said: "It was after the funeral when everything stopped, and everything went quiet and I just didn't know what to do with myself."

Tigerlily Trust aims to help bereaved families across South Cumbria struggling to deal with the loss caused by miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or terminal illness.

The Grange-based charity provides unique miscarriage care packages and remembrance boxes to families, filled with items tailored to help overcome their grief.

The miscarriage care packages include tissues for their tears, camomile tea to help soothe their emotions, two identical knitted teddies, a rose-scented shaped heart soap, a keepsake heart, as well as a bookmark with a detachable forget me not seed that can be planted.

The charity provides two remembrance packages, one for 16-18 weeks up to birth and then a children's box.

These include, an inkless wipe kit to take hand and footprints, a larger wildflower and detachable forget me not heart, a booklet of useful information, a handwritten card to the parents, a keepsake heart, a notepad and pen because Val recognised how useful writing things down was for her when she was in hospital, a photo frame, some cotton to tie a lock of hair, two identical teddies, a handmade box to keep the hospital bands in, a tealight and candle, essential oils to help with comfort, and a split heart keyring.

As well as all this the charity provides clothes to dress the baby in because Val and Patrick never had anything small enough to dress Lily as well as handmade cots.

Mrs Isherwood said: "It has been the most amazing journey, it's something I'm the most passionate about that I've ever been in my life and it's the most fulfilling thing I've ever done in my life.

"It's such a privilege and an honour to be able to stand with bereaved parents at that crucial time in their lives."

For more information on the help and support that Tigerlily Trust provide visit, www.tigerlilytrust.co.uk