Our Staff

Having experienced the loss of my middle son when just 3 weeks old, I understand first hand the heartbreak and devastation felt when a much loved and wanted baby dies. I wasn't made aware of Held In Our Hearts when Theo died and it wasn't until 2009 after the birth of my third son that I got in contact. I wanted to make sure families received the best care and established a working group at St Johns and a trained as a befriender. My involvement grew from there and in December 2014 I left teaching to become the Chief Executive. I am extremely passionate about providing the best bereavement support to families at the worst of times. Everything we do is about providing bespoke support via monthly meetings, counselling and befriending which makes our charity one of a kind. It is person centred and we are guided by the families. I am on various working groups within NHS Lothian and Scottish Government making sure the parents voice is always heard. I feel very privileged to meet with families and hear about their precious and much loved baby and it is an honour to run such a long standing community charity.

I am delighted to have joined Held In Our Hearts in April 2023 as Head of Operations.  I lead on the operational and financial management of the charity, having overall responsibility for its smooth day to day running and ensuring the sustainability of our much-needed services. 

Whilst my role is not generally family facing, I am very grateful for the opportunities that I do get to connect with those bereaved parents who have so kindly shared their stories and little ones with me ❤       

Having largely dedicated my career to working and managing teams in the provision of support services across the third sector, I am proud to join such an amazing team, dedicating our time and efforts to ensuring that no family member has to go through the pain and trauma of baby loss alone.

I was overjoyed to  join the Held In Our Hearts team in April 2023 as Head of Fundraising. I lead a team of regional and specialist fundraisers to deliver our income generation goals.

My career has allowed me to work in variety of income generation roles for charities internationally for the past 18 years. I am delighted to bring my experience to work alongside our Held In Our Hearts supporters to deliver a portfolio of fundraising events and projects across Scotland. It is a privilege for me to spend time with supporters who dedicate so much time to helping us ensure that no family has to suffer the trauma of losing a baby or child alone. I am so grateful to every family who choses to share the stories of their little ones with myself and my team. I never fail to be inspired every time a family, community member, school, business or foundation choses to connect with us.

It is a joy to work with such a dedicated and caring team of colleagues, I am very luck to be part of the Held In Our Hearts family.

My precious daughter Eilidh was stillborn 21 years ago and Held In Our Hearts was a huge help to me. A couple of years ago, I had to give up work due to health problems, and now that I have free time on my hands (2 children at school and 2 at Uni), I want to give something back to the charity that helped me and took on the role of Principal Peer Supporter in 2019. I want to help other bereaved parents and show them there can be light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

I joined Held In Our hearts in January 2024 as project co-ordinator to support our new Hospital to Home services within NHS Fife, Forth Valley and Highland. I’ve had such a wonderful welcome and feeling part of the HiOH family already. 

I am a children’s nurse by background with a passion and love for working with children, young people and their families  and ensuring the holistic support needed for the whole family.  I have had a fabulous and varied career and the opportunity to work in London, Dublin, Glasgow and even a small adventure to Minneapolis. More recently I have worked as a Nurse Consultant for Paediatric Palliative Care and as a project manager for both NHS Scotland National Managed Clinical Network for Children with Exceptional Healthcare Needs and Marie Curie caring services. When the project co-ordinator post was advertised I jumped at the opportunity to work with Held In Our Hearts and be part of this amazing team and the work that they do and passion for doing it.

I feel very excited that the expansion of Hospital to Home to our new partner healthboard areas will allow even more families to feel supported within their own homes from the first weeks after the devastating loss of their baby and onwards on their journey.  

In 2012 after a career break from working in Social Work and Education I started my journey to become a counsellor. All through my training I always knew I wanted to support bereaved parents.

I qualified in 2016 and I am a registered member of the BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists) and abide by their code of ethics.

I have been a Counsellor at Held in our Hearts for several years and it is a privilege to support bereaved parents in their darkest times and hear about their precious babies.

I am passionate about counselling and providing a safe space for bereaved parents to talk openly about the trauma of their loss. I believe that with counselling parents can begin to navigate their grief and loss and begin the process of healing – not moving on but moving forward with the love for their precious baby.

Grief often can come in waves and we are here to support parents whether it is soon after a loss or the grief has become more complicated over time.

The charity is committed to providing bespoke, compassionate counselling and support us to attend conferences and training courses on baby loss, grief and trauma, ensuring that the voices of the bereaved parent is at the heart of everything we do.

Since 1989 I have been part of a team offering support to families in the Lothians who experience the death of a baby.  My background is in Nursing but in 2007 I decided to train as a counsellor.  I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling at Edinburgh University in 2011 and have been working as a counsellor for Held In Our Hearts since then.  I am a member of COSCA (Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland) and on the COSCA Register of Counsellors and Psychotherapists - Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. I work by their Statement of Ethics, Code of Practice and Complaints Procedure.

Over the years I have witnessed the value of talking about a baby that has died and the strength bereaved parents find to rebuild their lives after this devastating experience.  I feel it is a great privilege to hear about their baby, share their experience and be a small part of their journey to find a way forward.  As a counsellor I can offer a further layer of support when other issues arise or resurface following the death of a baby and navigating through the grief becomes more difficult.

Counselling may be helpful fairly soon after the death of a baby or at any time thereafter and we aim to offer this support for as long as it is needed.  I usually offer an initial meeting to discuss counselling and to help parents decide whether it feels right for them.  I see parents individually or as a couple.

My challenges in becoming a parent led me into a career in Counselling.

I qualified in 2016 and I am a registered member of BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists and BICA (British Infertility Counselling Association) and adhere to the ethical guidelines to ensure safe and contained counselling practice. I have worked as a counsellor in general practice, for mental health charities and in private independent practice. I currently work as part of the Counselling Service for Glasgow Centre for Reproductive Medicine (EdinburghSatellite Clinic) and Monklands Infertility Unit. 

As a counsellor, I believe the therapeutic relationship is the most important intervention in counselling.  Counselling offers exploration of new ways to live with the pain of loss while still having hope for the future.

I aim to offer a warm, compassionate and healing space for parents to talk about their much-loved baby so they can integrate their loss into their lives and explore ways of mourning and honouring their baby. It is a privilege to care and provide a safe space for families in one of the darkest human experiences.

I am very proud to be a part of Held in our Hearts and in my first week I have felt the empathy, connection and love from the team which is central to the ethos of the charity.

I came to counselling from a background in nursing, having had my curiosity sparked by a listening workshop that introduced me for the first time to the powerful effect of being really heard and understood.   Ultimately I made the leap to retrain and went on to gain my postgraduate diploma in Person-Centred Counselling from Persona/University of Aberdeen.

I am passionate about the Person-Centred approach in my work – it is hugely important for me to understand what each person’s experience of loss means to them from their own individual point of view.   I see counselling as a unique kind of relationship – one which offers a safe place for bereaved families, a place they can feel understood and accepted, where they can have the chance to express any of the feelings they might be having without judgement.   It is often also a place for families to be able to remember and talk about the cherished baby they have lost.   Ultimately, through counselling I hope to support families in finding a way forward following their devastating loss, in a way that feels uniquely meaningful for them.

After a career in the theatre and community arts, during the pandemic I made the decision to retrain as a counsellor. A move that has brought me so much joy and inspiration.

I fell in love with counselling after completing my COSCA certificate in skills and this only grew with each course I completed. After a year at The University of Edinburgh on their Masters program, I qualified in 2023 with an MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy from the University of Strathclyde. I am a registered member of BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists) and adhere to the ethical guidelines which help ensure professional and ethical commitment to clients and good practice.

At the core of my practice is the Person-centered modality, it’s my belief that seeing someone’s experience from their unique point of view is key to helping someone process what’s happening to them.

Counselling offers us a space that is just ours to be met without judgement or assumption. This can offer bereaved families the chance to talk about their baby without worry of how this will be held by others. I aim to offer families a warm and compassionate space to help families remember their baby while navigating their loss. Grief never leaves us fully but with time and support we can grow around our grief and continue through life holding those we love and have lost.

I feel so privileged to be a part of the Held In Our Hearts team, an organization with such love and passion for their staff, families and wider community. 

I am privileged to join the Held in our Hearts team to bring counselling support to our Fife families who have experienced the loss of their precious baby. It is great to be able to spread our values of empathy, connection and love, a little wider in the world. 

My background is in education, with many years supporting children and families with additional support needs through nurturing and compassionate relationships. My interest in working with loss and bereavement began as a Seasons for Growth companion, supporting children with change and loss in their lives. 

In recent years I have fulfilled a long-held ambition to train as a counsellor, and throughout my training and ongoing counselling work I have found myself drawn to supporting others through loss and trauma. I have been particularly moved by my work with bereaved parents, from making space for their darkest moments of grief, to their process of mourning, and honouring their little one’s life. Both strength and vulnerability often go hand in hand in this grief journey. 

I am a member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and follow their ethical framework. 

Counselling offers a way for us to journey together, to explore whatever experiences and difficulties surface along the way and to gently work together to find a path forward. By creating a compassionate safe space, I hope to honour each bereaved parent’s journey to talk about their baby, their loss and their life. Grief can at times bring other issues in life to the surface or feel more difficult amid this loss and together we can explore these in a way that suits you.  

My hope is that counselling can help you to find your way forward, carrying your precious memories and  bond with your little one with you. 

I’m a mum to three girls, my firstborn Tilly was born with a diaphragmatic hernia and died of an infection at twenty five days old. 

Losing a child for me was a such a lonely place to be, everyone’s life was able to move on but mine couldn’t and all I wanted was to talk about Tilly, she wasn’t my guilty secret she was my daughter and I was her mummy. 

I met the lovely Nicola at Held in our hearts six months after my loss by chance and had a peer support session - to hear another bereaved parent tell me they had felt what I felt made my feelings normal in my head, and we kept in contact over the years. 

When I later took voluntary redundancy, I was approached by Nicola to come onboard, the timing was right for us both, so here I am. 

Listening to parents talk about their babies with such love is one of the most special parts of my work, pure and raw but love at its best. 

I am a Peer Supporter as well as doing a volunteer co-ordinator role. 

My name is Vikki and I first got in touch with Held In Our Hearts in 2016.
Two days before our wedding day we were told the words during a routine scan that no expectant mother wants to hear, "I'm so sorry". Our baby girl, Angelica, had a condition called anencephaly which, unfortunately, is incompatible with life. One week after hearing those words, our little girl was born.
I had no idea just how difficult the next steps in my journey were going to be, but due to go back to work in the coming weeks, working on the same maternity ward I delivered Angelica on, I needed to talk to someone who understood. And Held In Our Hearts came into my life.
I got in touch with the charity and was supported by the wonderful Nicola. The compassion and empathy she had was a massive part of helping me on my journey.
Since that moment, I always knew I wanted to give back to this amazing charity. December of 2020 was when I got back in touch to see what I could do to help. I started peer supporting in 2021 and became part of the team in June. It really is the most amazing work this charity provides and I feel so privileged to be a part of it.

Hi, my name is Amy, and I am the Peer Support Worker for Fife. I offer support to families over the phone, online and in person, in our lovely Rainbow Room in Dalgety Bay. I will be working closely with both the Hospital to Home Worker and Counsellor for Fife, providing families the support they so desperately deserve after such devastating loss.

I was first introduced to Held In Our Hearts back in October of 2021, after losing our baby girl Daisy. Daisy was our third baby, having two beautiful boys already we were ecstatic to be having a little girl. Losing Daisy, halfway through our pregnancy and very suddenly, completely shattered our world and I fell apart, unable to see any hope for the future. A lovely bereavement nurse from our hospital suggested that I reach out to Held In Our Hearts, and I have never been more thankful for this. I first received invaluable support from the amazing Peer Supporter Vikki and then after realizing I was suffering from complex PTSD, I moved onto the much-needed counselling service from the wonderful Ailsa.

The charity means the absolute world to me. I know just how important it is to have someone who can truly empathize with you and how you’re feeling, there are no expectations, no judgements and the space for you to love and grieve your baby is completely safe. Held In Our Hearts understood our loss and the enormity of our grief. I found myself unable to fully express to my close family just how awful I was feeling, the pressure was overwhelming. I hated the thought of family members being upset because of me, or them worrying about me, so I was silent. The support provided me with a space where I could talk, guilt free. It then allowed me the courage to be able to share my baby and all that she means to me, and I believe this is how I was able to go on.

Held In Our Hearts continued to support me throughout my subsequent pregnancy and in September 2023, we welcomed our much-loved Rainbow baby into the world.

I feel so privileged to be in this position now, walking with families through their own heartbreaking loss and giving them my support, I truly understand the importance of the space provided.

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family and catching up with friends. I love spending time outdoors, growing my own veggies and doing a bit of DIY here and there. I have an eye for detail and have a keen interest in wildlife photography.

Held In Our Hearts has been an incredible support to me and my family ever since our baby son, Alex, died aged 3 weeks in February 2018 due to a severe congenital heart defect.  When we returned home from the hospital without Alex we felt like we were the only people in the world that this had ever happened to, which was terrifying and isolating, despite the well-meaning messages and support from family and friends.  We were lucky to be put in contact with Held In Our Hearts within a few days by our Health Visitor and I remember the first phone call with Nicola as a beam of light into our blackened world, to talk to someone who had been in the same position and who knew exactly how we were feeling was incredible as we felt so alone and hopeless in our grief.

Over the turbulent years since Alex died I regularly met with my peer supporter who showed incredible understanding of my grief for Alex and also for my several early miscarriages.  I was also supported through my subsequent pandemic pregnancy by the wonderful pregnancy after loss group.

I have trained to join the Peer Support team as I would like to offer the support and understanding that was shown to me to other bereaved families, to let them know that no one should have to feel alone in their grief following the loss of a beloved baby.

Nothing could have prepared me for losing my son, Hunter, in July 2013. I lost him quite suddenly 18 weeks into my first pregnancy. I had never experienced grief like it and felt so alone. When my husband found Held In Our Hearts it was amazing to finally feel safe and understood.

Unfortunately, on Mother's Day 2015, at 22 weeks pregnant I lost our daughter, Esmae. Once again the charity supported us in ways others could not.

We remained hopeful, but in October 2015, a scan showed our daughter, Freya, had anencephaly, a condition incompatible with life and we had to make the heart-breaking decision to terminate. Whilst grief and loss were familiar, experiencing a TFMR was new territory, but Held In Our Hearts understood and thankfully had already been supporting us throughout the pregnancy.  

The following year, after a second early loss, I became pregnant for the sixth time and in April 2017, after a lot of amazing care, including counselling sessions and support from Held In Our Hearts, I gave birth to Iris...and we brought her home.

After having Iris I decided not go back to my job as a Media Sales Manager for a national newspaper publisher and became a stay at home mum. It was so lovely to have the chance to spend precious time with her before she started school. In 2021 my wee family moved from Edinburgh back to my hometown of Inverness and I jumped at the chance to be part of Held In Our Hearts’ expansion to the Highlands. I did my peer supporter training and it just felt right.

It's such a privilege to be a Peer Supporter here in the Highlands. I know the difference it can make to speak someone who understands the heartache of losing a precious baby.  I hope I can help ease the feelings of loneliness and isolation.

I have not suffered the devastating loss of a baby, however throughout my time as a student midwife and as a mum to a daughter with a life threatening heart condition I have walked hand in hand with women and their families who have experienced this unimaginable loss.  In 2019 our daughter underwent her second Open Heart Surgery and we welcomed our fourth child.  I reassessed my life and decided to make a massive career change.  I moved into the charity sector and began my role as a fundraiser.  When the first opportunity arose to join the wonderful and inspirational team at Held in Our Hearts I grabbed it with both hands.  I am inspired and driven to raise as much funds as possible to allow the team to offer bereavement support to all families sadly in need of our help.

I decided over 5 years ago to integrate fundraising and charity organising more intentionally into my everyday life, fitting both community fundraising and social campaigning around University studies and my day job, I have been following a path that has led me to become the newest Fundraiser for Held In Our Hearts. I consider working for Held In Our Hearts as more than just a job, but a passion and purpose. On a personal level, Held in Our Hearts is a charity that I cherish deeply, having found comfort in the community after my nephew, Max, was stillborn in June 2023. I promised Max the day I met him that I would do everything in my power to live life for him, to protect his family and to be a part of the change that he deserved to see in the world. Fundraising for Held In Our Hearts is one way for me to uphold that promise. In supporting the financial growth of the charity more families, like ours, can have access to life changing bereavement support.

It is such an honour to be in a position to support families who discover that fundraising can be part of their bereavement journey; whether they are fundraising to stay connected with their loss, to contribute to their baby’s legacy, or to give back to the our Held In Our Hearts community, it is beyond special to be a part of that journey! Of course there are many people who fundraise for us who are not bereaved themselves but connect with our cause and understand the profound impact that the charity has in supporting other people their community, this is unbelievable too!! It never fails to amaze me how generous and loving our fundraisers are, and I cannot wait to connect with more families and fundraisers who would like to take part in fun and exciting fundraisers to keep Held In Our Hearts thriving.  

I was an Early Years Practitioner, working as a childminder when our sons died in pregnancy in 2011 and 2012.  At the time, we were lucky to receive support from some wonderful charities including Held In Our Hearts and we were able to grieve our babies and find our way forward with new meaning.  There was still some way to go in breaking the taboo around baby loss at that time and I made it my mission to talk about my boys Theo and Jay, and support others through their losses.  A part of my personal journey was to re-train as a counsellor, and in 2019 I qualified and began working in a school.  I loved this role and especially working with bereavement, I knew how important good support was.  I decided to leave my post in search of something meaningful, I wanted to work in bereavement services and support families like my own.  When I saw the post for Hospital to Home Worker, I had a lump in my throat.  This was something I so desperately needed when my sons died and yet it seemed like a pipe dream.  I am so honoured to have been given the opportunity to work with Held In Our Hearts in this new role and support families through their early stages of grief.

I came to Held In Our Hearts from supporting families and young people who have experienced bereavement and loss.  I found this extremely rewarding and working at Held In Our Hearts has enabled me to support families going through extremely difficult loss. 

My background is in Psychotherapy and have worked for a number of voluntary projects supporting parents, children and young people.  I have found it a privilege being able to meet and support families and being able to be part of their journey.

I feel very privileged working at Held In Our Hearts, being able to give families a voice, feel supported and listened to, ensuring that no family or parent feels isolated or alone.

My name is Magi and I have just started in my new role as Hospital To Home worker in the Highlands. 

When I saw the Held In Our Hearts jobs advertised on Facebook I thought how much easier it would have made life for me after both the loss of my little boy after a scan at 22 weeks and the earlier miscarriages. 

The loss of my little boy was 31 years ago. I hope that by looking at me much further down the line newly bereaved parents can see just a wee glimmer of hope that it will be ok. 

Losing my son changed me as a person, I think it made me more compassionate, more accepting and less judgemental. I want to put those things to good use. And in an odd wee way it feels like I can make sense of my loss by doing this job. 

I have never forgotten the raw, searing grief of those early days and being able to support families through that is something I will give my all to. 

My wee boy was called Dale, he was born at 23 weeks on the 18th of March 1993. My new start date with Held In Our Hearts was 18th March 2024 - I took it as a sign that I am just where I am meant to be. There are no words to explain how grateful I am for that. 

I am now a mother of 2 grown up children and a granny to 4 absolutely wonderful grandchildren

Redundancy from a 25-year career in operations and human resources in 2020 led me to re-evaluate the direction of my professional life.  I went back to university and qualified as a counsellor in 2022 and at the same time, I entered the third sector as a Community Worker for a local church, running a small counselling service and wellbeing centre in Stirling town centre.  It was having started up my own counselling practice and having joined the counselling team at Strathcarron Hospice, that I realised I wanted to work with the bereaved.  When the Forth Valley Hospital to Home Worker role was advertised in early 2024,  I jumped at the opportunity to join an organisation committed to supporting bereaved parents and families in my local area.  As a Hospital to Home Worker, I feel both humbled and privileged to be invited into people’s homes where I can bear witness to their grief at a time when they are most vulnerable.  Being able to provide parents and families with both deep compassion and practical advice in the first weeks following their devastating loss feels important and rewarding and makes every day at Held In Our Hearts worthwhile.

I had always been aware of Held In Our Hearts, and particularly so since the loss of my baby daughter in 2009. At the time, we were lucky to have received incredible support from the hospital teams and community midwives and so somehow I didn’t have the nerve to get in touch with Held In Our Hearts.

However, it seemed we were meant to meet.

In summer 2021 I was looking for a job, but not just any job. One day, the Office Manager advert literally appeared on my computer screen. That in itself was cause for a second glance. And then it seemed to tick so many boxes. But the main one was that this was a cause not just close to my heart, but part of my very existence. If I could join in something that could bring hope for the future to families suffering indescribable loss, then that would be way more than a job.

And so here I am, looking after the office and working with an incredibly wonderful group of humans. I do get calls from time to time, and I cherish every opportunity to lend a listening ear, and heartfelt support. I’m so glad to use my experience to try and help someone else, and each time it feels like I’m adding to our precious daughter’s story, and her place in our lives.