Ellan’s event raises over £12k for Sands

DUMFRIES couple Shannon and Scott Goodwin have raised over £12,000 for Dumfries and Galloway SANDS in memory of their baby girl.

The couple’s youngest daughter Ellan was born sleeping on May 8 this year.

Following their loss, Shannon and Scott were supported by the stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands. Shannon said: “We spent a lot of time in the rainbow room, away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital, and it gave us the time and opportunity to hold her and to meet our other two kids, and the support they gave us was absolutely amazing.”

Wanting to turn their grief into something positive, they decided to organise a comedy night, with a fundraising auction and raffle.

And it was held at Dumfries Rugby Club earlier this month and proved a smash, raising £12,100 for SANDS.

Shannon and Scott presented the cheque to the charity last week, and they hopes their contribution will help bridge the gap between leaving hospital and being supported at home.

She added: “Everything is different when you lose a child. When I left hospital I was told that someone’s always at the end of the phone. But the last thing I wanted to do then was talk to a nameless person on the end of phone, so having someone that will come check-in on you at home would be really worthwhile.

“Everyone’s generosity has been overwhelming, it just shows how much people can come together: from all the businesses that donated prizes and auction items worth hundreds of pounds, they didn’t bat an eyelid and we really appreciate them for that. To everyone else who helped us bring it all together and supported us, thank you.

“We hope we have done our baby girl proud by raising this amount of money in her name.”