AFTER the wedding bells have died down and the last bit of confetti plucked from out of your hair, what do you do with all the dresses, accessories and left over wedding favours?
Local charity Friends of Serenity think they’ve found the answer.
Their ‘pop up’ wedding shop will sell everything you need for the big day and all the proceeds will go to their campaign for a Serenity Suite at Burnley General Hospital.
Joanne Edwards, from Darwen, deputy head teacher of Colne primary school Sacred Heart, and founder of local charity Friends of Serenity, is now on the hunt for old or new, satin or lace, traditional or modern wedding dresses to sell in the shop.
She started the charity after she lost her baby Luke to Trisomy 13/Patau’s Syndrome, a chromosome disorder that leads to problems with the nervous system, eyes and the muscoskeltal system, in March last year.
The idea arose after close friend of the charity, Natalie Patterson, donated her wedding dress to the charity after deciding that the need for the serenity suite far outweighed her own sentimental needs.
Natalie said “My family have helped in various different ways with fundraising for Friends of Serenity, so I wanted to do something significant to help raise some more money. It would only have been hidden away in the wardrobe otherwise.”
The Friends of Serenity charity supports newly bereaved parents by providing them with memory boxes, whilst also working hard to raise awareness for Trisomy 13 and money for the Serenity Suite conversion at Burnley East Lancashire Women’s and New- born Centre.
The suite will be designed to comfort for women who are ill during pregnancy and for parents who lose their baby during pregnancy or soon after birth.
In order to test whether people would be willing to give up their dress from their ‘big day’, the charity posted a Facebook status asking for thoughts and the feedback was very positive.
To donate or find out more information, visit www.gofundme.com/friends-of-serenity or www.facebook.com/hopeserenitytrisomy13awareness.
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