Not only is the NHS celebrating 75 years of service this July, this year also marks 25 years of the SPRING service.

Funded by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity, SPRING has been able to support bereaved parents who have experienced the grief of the loss of a baby at any stage of pregnancy, at or just after birth – whatever the circumstances and however long ago.

For more than two decades, SPRING has been here to bring parents and medical professionals together to ensure bereaved parents and families in Bournemouth, Poole and the surrounding areas are treated with sensitivity and the best possible care.

Now there are support groups, counselling and remembrance events, it’s hard to imagine this kind of much-needed support being unavailable for people when they need it, but it wasn’t until 1998 that its founder, Heather Domeney established the SPRING service.

Yesterday, bereaved families who have been supported by the SPRING service were invited to a small but significant event at Merley House to come together and mark this important milestone.

SPRING’s Fundraising Officer, Zoe Wood says: “It was so lovely to mark this special milestone with our SPRING families. The service depends on the generosity of our supporters, and it is wonderful that we can still provide this much needed and valued service for people in the local community for generations to come.”