A nursery in Banbury celebrating 35 years will be hosting a ball this month to raise money for a local charity.
Banbury School Day Nursery, which is located on the grounds of Wykham Park Academy, will host the charity ball at Whatley Hall Hotel on Saturday, November 23.
The ball will raise money for Footprints Baby Loss, a bereavement charity that provides vital support to parents and families who experience the death of one or more of their twins or triplets before, during or after birth.
Manager and owner of the nursery, Andrea Brooker, said: "I can’t believe that the nursery is still going strong after all these years and that I still enjoy being at the nursery after so many years.
"Starting as a young adult to now having four adult children and being a nana.
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"The children are the best part of my working day, especially when they say Andrea you're the boss, aren’t you!"
Sharon Darke started Footprints Baby Loss with Suzie Scofield in January 2024.
"My twin boys Charlie and Joshua were born 25 years ago and lived seven and 13 days. Suzie’s twins, Rory and Daniel both died 12 years ago. We met each other when I was Suzie’s befriender.
"Andrea first got in contact with us just after we launched in January 2024 to see how she could help.
"The nursery then kindly raised some money for us by having a cake sale at their sports day in June. When Andrea mentioned the ball we were thrilled. It’s a first for us at Footprints. We are really looking forward to it."
"We have both worked in the baby loss sector as volunteers and as employees for many years, and know how important finding peer to peer support is.
"We understand the value of having a safe space to be able to communicate with someone who has been through something similar, and provide a kind, caring and inclusive approach with our bereavement services.
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"Everyone who experiences the death of a twin, triplet or more is welcome to access our support whatever gestation or age of baby loss, and at any point during the grief journey, whether it is in the early days or many years later."
The charity provides bereavement support in the form of befriending, online support groups and an online community private group.
The support is all provided by those who have had first hand experience of twin or triplet loss.
Ms Darke added: "As a new charity we are currently running entirely on donations so we are so grateful for people like Andrea fundraising for us. The money raised makes so much difference to the families that we support."
Those who would like to purchase tickets for the ball can do so by emailing bsdnursery1989@gmail.com.
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