Everyone dreams of how it will be to be a parent, we all have those images in our heads of what we will do with our children and the things we will teach them. For me it was always a clear image of teaching my children how to play football, taking them to matches and watching them grow up through sport as I have.
No one dreams of being a parent to an angel, but sadly for me this is the reality, my wife and I lost our son Harry at 29 weeks through stillbirth, and our daughter Emily lost her little life just 18 minutes after being born at 20 weeks.
Hannah also sadly lost her little boy John just under 2 hours old with her previous partner Chris in 2013.
And so we would like to fundraise to help towards the Causeway Bereavement suite. A facility we feel is much needed in our area.
I wanted to do something to bring together bereaved daddy's from our local community, to show support to each other, raise some much needed funds, but more so to raise awareness.
I have arranged a charity football match at Coleraine showgrounds, kick off at 3pm, on Sunday 7th April with light refreshments and entertainment to follow.
I played football in various teams most of my life but this is a team I never ever imagined I'd be able to play in. No one will dream of becoming a member of this team, but I can say for me that I will be so proud to stand amongst a team of men, playing together, supporting each other and remembering all of our children doing something that will bring us all together.
I hope that everyone will come out on the day to show support to everyone playing and help us all to show that we can be each others support. For me a support group or meeting can feel intimidating so I am trying to put together something a little different using the thing I know best.. Football..
I would like to thank everyone for liking and sharing all of our posts and for all the support and donations received to date we are truly grateful for every single penny.