Marie and Keith Briggs created Joe's Toes in memory of their son, who was sadly stillborn as a result of twin to twin transfusion syndrome
An inspirational family have raised thousands of pounds for charity.
Marie and Keith Briggs (both 36) have raised over £15,000 to fund Joe’s Toes, a memory making project devised in conjunction with Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) for parents who are dealing with the loss of a child.
The Briggs family launched the product of their collective hard work at a Scottish Parliament event celebrating the work of the charity.
In recognition of their endeavour, the family won Tommy’s Inspirational Family of the Year this summer. As their last fundraiser of the year, they participated in Dalkeith Country Park’s Santa Run this December.
Marie said: “2019 has been a fantastic first year for Joe’s Toes and we cannot thank everyone enough for their generosity. This year we have seen everything from a 100 mile challenge to a head shave, from multiple half marathons to bingo bonanzas. We are astounded by the support shown to us by our local community and further afield. Our loss of Joe has sparked a fire in everyone to help and we have raised over £12,000!
“We hope everyone knows the difference this will make to bereaved and soon to bereaved parents in their darkest hours. Every donation makes all the difference in helping provide this service to a family in need.
“Thank you everyone for your kindness. We wish you a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year!”
Keith and Marie welcomed identical twin boys to the world, eight weeks early in February 2018. Thomas (Tommy) was born shortly after Joseph (Joe) Briggs who was sadly stillborn as a result of twin to twin transfusion syndrome.
Tommy spent five weeks in hospital and was cared for both in Special Care Baby Unit in Borders General Hospital and Simpsons Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. Tommy spent a total of five weeks in hospital before being well enough to be discharged home.
Driven to help fellow families coping with similar loss, Marie and Keith are now collaborating with CHAS on a memory making project called Joes Toes in honour of their baby boy. Their social media groups have subsequently drawn in a great deal of public support.
The funds raised for Joe’s Toes will allow CHAS to purchase the materials required to make baby hand and foot-casts, as well as special boxes to house them in, respectfully done in Joe’s name. This type of memory making has generally been offered by CHAS within the Hospice, however taking it into the Neonatal Unit is pioneering work, providing another opportunity for parents to make precious lasting memories following the death of their baby.
Sarah Dannfald, community fundraiser for CHAS, said: “We are so thankful to the Briggs family for all their fundraising efforts for CHAS, to help us provide even more families with those precious special memories that will stay with them forever.
“Marie and Keith have inspired so many of their friends, family and neighbours to join them and to date they have raised over £15,500 in memory of Joe. For that we are so grateful and will allow us to provide over 350 families with the opportunity to make 3D casts of their child’s hand or foot, and display it beautifully in the Joe’s Toes Box.”
