Since we married in 2010 we have been longing to start our own family. We had been struggling to conceive a child, after our first IVF attempt and failure, we had a miracle and conceived naturally!

Not being exceptionally great with children, pregnant ladies or even the idea of "trimesters" I was soon learning. Our expected due date was January the 18th 2015. Super excited, at our 18 week mark we found out that our baby was to be a little girl. Two weeks later at our 20 week NHS scan, we were told the words "your babies heart beat has stopped", this literally took our souls away. That moment shall never be forgotten.

The following days involved great heartache and Nicola having to give birth to our daughter with an induced labor. She was born so tiny but perfectly formed, we named her Alice. For a few magical hours we were able to spend some time with her before sadly saying goodbye. 
People grieve in many different ways, in life I try to turn everything to a positive. The main reason for this lengthy message is that the Gloucestershire charity SANDS (stillbirth and neonatal death society) made our ordeal as easy as it could possibly be. Without them we would not of had a memories box to be able to capture Alice's foot and hand prints. We would not of been able to give her a teddy bear for company for when she got lonely. There were lots of other fantastic gifts given to help us through. These great ideas were completely over looked by ourselves as we were unable to prepare for the delivery of our daughter so early. Without the memory box we would not have any keepsakes of Alice. SANDS also funded a brand new suite at GRH which was made available to us, this was away from other couples where I could be with Nicola for as long as we needed. SANDS support couples in the same situation as us across the country. Providing support both physically and emotionally to bereaved parents and families, they also fund vital research into still births.

We have since had Alice cremated, we always believe that she would of been the kind of girl who would of enjoyed the beach and especially Cornwall. I am therefore going to repay our gratitude to SANDS and the amazing midwife support by taking her by bike to Cornwall. We will scatter her ashes on one of the beautiful beaches where we hope her spirit will be happy.
On the 23rd of October I am cycling from Gloucester maternity ward where she was born to Lands End. I will travel a total of 250 miles over 3 days with Alice by my side.

We would be exceptionally grateful for any support you may be able to offer this charity and our situation. 
To donate please visit and wish Alice and myself a safe cycle to Cornwall.

There will be a few people on the cycle ride, if you would like to participate in the ride then please let me know, even if its just for one day we would be very grateful.

Many Thanks David and Nicola.