If you have children could you ever imagine life with out them now? 17 women a day give birth to either a stillborn baby or a baby who dies very soon after birth. 4Louis provide memory boxes so bereaved parents can have a memory of their much loved child with them forever.
My name is Paul Taft and I and 3 friends are planning to do a 175 mile charity walk from Huddersfield to Sunderland starting on the 23rd June. It is to raise money for a stillborn and neo-natal death charity based in the Northeast called 4Louis. My journey with 4Louis began back in December 2009 when I heard the sad news of Kirsty Mcgurell (my boss’s daughter) losing her 1st child shortly before her due date. She had to give birth to Louis as a sleeping angel. After what she had to go through and the little support that was out there she took it upon herself to set up the charity 4Louis. Their mission is to provide SweetDreams keepsake memory boxes free of charge to hospitals across the UK. To date 4Louis supply boxes to over 200 Hospitals and hospices across the UK. To read Kirsty’s heart wrenching story and to find more out about the charity please visit www.4louis.co.uk . Phil Barker decided to join my cause in memory of his niece Holly Gale who had passed away in October 2009 after only 12 days and and between us we formed Walk4Louis. In 2014 another of my friends Mark Deleon joined our group as he felt inspired to join the cause. Last year a forth walker joined, Julie Ridley who was inspired by what we were doing and wanted to help so agreed to complete their 2015 challenge with them.
Walk4Louis’s mission is to complete 1 annual long distance walk to help raise funds for 4Louis. To date we have completed 6 walks and walked just over 900miles and we have raised over £28,000 for the charity. To find out more about use please visit www.4louis.co.uk/walk4louis
In June 2016 we will be taking on our 7th walking challenge ‘A Grand Walk’ where we will be walking from Huddersfield to Sunderland and Walk4Louis will be clocking up their 1000th mile. We will be starting from the Forget-Me-Not Children’s Hospice on Thursday 23rd June 2016 at approx. 9:30am and over the next 10 days we will follow the route through Bradford, Leeds, Wetherby, Ripon, Northallerton, Darlington, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Durham and will arriving at Sunderland Royal Hospital on Saturday 2nd July 2016 at approx. 3pm after covering around 175 miles. Along our route we will be visiting some of the hospitals and hospices 4Louis supply the keepsake boxes to, they are Forget-Me-Not Children’s Hospice, Bradford Infirmary, St Luke’s Hospital (Bradford), Leeds Infirmary, St James Hospital (Leeds), Martin House Hospice (Wetherby), Harrogate Hospital, Darlington Hospital, Zoe’s Place (Middlesbrough) North Tees Hospital (Stockton-On-Tees), Durham Hospital and Sunderland Royal Hospital.
Any questions or queries please contact;
Paul Taft Phil Barker Mark Deleon Julie Ridley
07710174445 07890040903 07753126993 07?????????
Email. walk4louis@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter. @Walk4Louis
Facebook. Walk ForLouis