A football tournament organised by the founders of a Coatbridge charity raised £780 to support their work with bereaved parents.
Bryan and Julie Morrison of Baby Loss Retreat were thrilled with the success of the five-a-side tournament, played at the outside pitches at the Penny Cars stadium in Airdrie – and now plan to make it an annual event.
The funds will be used to send families who have endured the loss of their babies on respite breaks.
Shawhead resident Bryan organised the event alongside Fulton MacGregor MSP following a suggestion from the Coatbridge representative, who played for one of the six teams in the competition.
He told the Advertiser: “Everyone really enjoyed it and it will become an annual event. We’ve invited the winning team, Archie’s Army, to choose the venue.
“Fulton MacGregor has always been supportive of our charity and we’re working on things with him at the Scottish Parliament.
“We didn’t want to make it too big as a football event can be quite hard to organise. Everything went really smoothly.
“The teams were led by dads who have lost a child and were often named in honour of their babies.
“Lots of parents and families gave donations of prizes for the raffle – the amount we raised was fantastic. We’re looking forward to doing it again.”
The six teams played one another in a league format, with Archie’s Army taking the top trophy ahead of respective second and third-placed teams – Chris’ Angels and Coatbridge United.
Bryan, who captained a team of work colleagues, added: “It was really good having an event to bring dads together, who are sometimes difficult to reach, and to do something in memory of their babies.
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“This was their way of doing something in memory of their child. One of the players I spoke to said he felt really emotional taking part. We spoke for an hour the next day, so we were really glad he’d done it.”
Bryan and Julie tragically lost daughter Erin Elizabeth in July 2003 when she was stillborn at 37 weeks due to a blood clot in the placenta.
They set up their charity last year to support those affected by miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death. Julie said: “The original idea for the tournament came from Fulton MacGregor, and we can’t thank him enough.
“There was such a great turnout and we raised an amazing total, which will give at least another three parents respite after the loss of a child.”
