A BEREAVED mum has set up a group for grieving parents after noticing a lack of support in her area.

Leila Hobart, of Silver End, has set up Little Wings of Hope following the death of her one-day-old son Oscar earlier this year.

Leila hopes to raise as much money as possible to be able to help other parents in a similar situation.

“The aim is to build and put together a support group in the area because the nearest one is in Chelmsford,” she said.

“There’s nothing really around here for bereaved parents and families.”

Braintree and Witham Times: Support - Leila Hobart set up Little Wings of Hope CIC after the death of her son OscarSupport - Leila Hobart set up Little Wings of Hope CIC after the death of her son Oscar (Image: Leila Hobart)

Since losing her son, Leila has joined a support group based in South Woodham Ferrers but wants to connect with parents more locally.

She hopes to be able to arrange a monthly support group in the town with the view to branching out to offer one-to-one counselling or therapy sessions to help beat lengthy NHS waiting lists.

In the future, the community interest company also hopes to support families by providing accommodation close to specialist hospitals and launch partnerships with businesses across East Anglia to help parents who have suffered baby loss.

Leila said: “My husband stayed with my best friend when I was in hospital because they lived close by, but had they not been there he wouldn’t have been able to stay and would have missed Oscar’s birth.

“We hope to start the support group in January and once we’ve got a bit of funding behind us we can go from there.

“We’ve been so lucky with the amount of support we’ve had. It’s really overwhelming.”

Last week was Baby Loss Awareness Week and businesses across Witham turned blue and pink to support Leila’s campaign.

Braintree and Witham Times: Awareness - Witham supported Baby Loss Awareness WeekAwareness - Witham supported Baby Loss Awareness Week (Image: Leila Hobart)

Various businesses in the town supported the cause, while the Witham Hub created a window display to remember babies who have lost their lives.

Self-employed personal trainer Leila is also campaigning for better financial support from the Government for bereaved parents who work for themselves.

Her petition calling for the Government to create a bereavement support scheme for self-employed parents has gathered more than 3,200 signatures.