Twinkling Stars Appeal boosted by £10,000 donation from Kettering's crematorium

An appeal to dramatically improve baby bereavement facilities at KGH has been boost by a £10,000 from the town's crematorium.

Warren Hill Crematorium was able to hand over the five-figure sum from money it received for participating in the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM) metals recycling scheme. The scheme sees metals which have been recovered from cremation recycled with the express consent of bereaved families.

Cash received from the scheme has been given to KGH's Twinkling Stars Appeal, which aims to raise £1m.

It hopes to fund a new bereavement room, family room, quiet room and office separated from the labour suite at the Rothwell Road hospital, where bereaved families can currently be surrounded by others welcoming their newborns.

Jayne Chambers, Kettering General Hospital’s head of strategic corporate and community fundraising, said: “We are extremely grateful for Kettering Crematorium’s donation of £10,000 towards our Twinkling Stars Appeal.

“While fundraising for the appeal has been significantly disrupted by the Covid pandemic, our appeal to dramatically improve the bereavement facilities at KGH for local families who lose their baby is still very much open.

“We are looking forward to a time when we can re-launch active fundraising for the appeal as Covid restrictions are lifted and organising fundraising events becomes easier.”

The donation takes the crematorium's total amount donated to local bereavement-related charities since 2011 to more than £119,000.

Other charities to have previously received donations include Cransley Hospice, Cynthia Spencer Hospice, Kettering Mind, KGH charitable fund and Macmillan Cancer Support, among others.

Cllr Ian Jelley, Kettering Council’s portfolio holder for environment, said: “We’re delighted that local charities are able to benefit from the metals recycled by Warren Hill Crematorium, and it is a tremendous achievement that over £119,000 has been donated to local bereavement related charities over the last 10 years.”

Shirley Plenderleith, head of public services at Kettering Council, added: “We are extremely proud of the impressive amount of money that we have been able to donate to local bereavement charities."