On October 20th 2023 our baby Oli passed away during his birth. We were touched in so many ways by the breadth of support from our family, community, strangers, and services that offered love and care to us in many different ways. One of the most important of those was being supported to bring Oli back home with us for a short while, and to cherish special intimate moments as a family. We were only able to do this with the resource of a Cuddle Cot that was leant to us during these early grieving days at home - a period of time that we truly cannot imagine doing without.

A cuddle cot is a cooling system that lays beneath the baby within a bassinet. It enables bereaved families to keep their baby close and create beautiful memories, spending as much time as they wish with their baby, before saying goodbye. Not all bereaved families choose to bring their baby home, but we want to ensure that those that do can. The days we spent together as a family soaking in Oli, in awe and love and sadness, are the most precious memories we have. 

On October 13th Hayden will be running the Melbourne Marathon in honour of Oli's birthday and to raise funds towards this. We want to support other families to have the choice to spend this precious and fleeting time with their babies by fundraising for a Cuddle Cot to be donated to an Australian hospital or funeral home to support a bereaved family like we were. 

We would love you to help reach our goal of $6,500 which is the cost of a new Cuddle Cot system that will be in Oli's name. Please feel free to leave a message of support and to share openly and widely with your families, friends and networks. This means a lot to us, and we want to give back in the most meaningful way we feel we can. 

With much love, and many thanks - Hayden, Pip and Oli x