Shropshire Star

Shropshire baby ashes group to set up new charity

A campaign group set up to get justice for parents involved in Shropshire's baby ashes scandal will launch a charity to help bereaved parents.

Published

Glen Perkins, founder of Action for Ashes, said the new charity Archangel Babies UK would help parents fund and arrange funerals.

Supporters hope to initially raise about £5,000 for the charity, which it is hoped will open more doors to funding and lottery grants.

Mr Perkins said: "It is part of Action for Ashes and we wanted to take it forward for the future – but the name seemed a bit extreme so we came up with a new name for a charity."

Mr Perkins set up the Action for Ashes campaign group after his four-month-old daughter Olivia died in 2007.

She was cremated at Emstrey Crematorium in Shrewsbury and the family was told there were no ashes.

But a two-year investigation then found that more than 60 families were denied their child's ashes at Emstrey.

Mr Perkins' ongoing campaign has led to a consultation into the laws that govern cremations of babies across the country.

He said: "Bereavement is enough in itself so what we are looking to do is part fund – or in extreme cases we would be willing to fully fund – the funeral and if they want us to we can arrange the funeral with them.

"Many people have never had to arrange a funeral before. If there is an organisation in place to assist parents in any way I think we would be able to get a lot more done.

"We would also we able to oversee these funerals to make sure that what goes on is above board."

Mr Perkins said the group was also looking at how it could provide parents with something physical to keep following a burial or cremation.

He also hopes to be able to fund a Day To Remember for terminally ill children and their families, which could then be recorded and photographed and turned into a keepsake.

He said: "This is for all those babies that we don't know where they are.

"They are missing, they will never be found but in their name this is what we are doing – they are what we are doing it for."

Anyone who would like to get involved with the new charity or to donate to the cause should search for Action 4 Ashes on Facebook.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.