Grieving parents are being helped to process their loss through music with the help of an internationally-acclaimed songstress at Derian House Children’s Hospice.
Kiki Deville, best known for her appearance on reality TV’s The Voice – has led the “Keepsake Circle” project at the Chorley-based hospice.
Nine families took part in the project providing a unique way to remember their child through a song that they can share with family and friends.
“The Keepsake Circle is such a unique experience – it has given us another opportunity to celebrate our daughter’s life and to continue her memory,” said mum Kirsty Prescott, from Wigan.
Kirsty and her husband Jonathon worked with Kiki and Guss to create ‘Little Darling’ – a song dedicated to their baby daughter Iris Joy who passed away at just three weeks old after developing an infection.
“Iris’s song highlights both the joy of having our daughter and the greatest sadness imaginable losing her too,” said Kirsty.
“We speak about Iris each day, so to have a song dedicated to our beautiful baby girl, solely on how amazing our Iris is, was and will always be, is heart-warming.
“When we heard Iris’ song we cried and somehow found ourselves smiling at the same time. Grief and joy can co-exist. I feel the everlasting love we feel for our Iris shines through and how proud we are to be Iris’ mummy and daddy. Our daughter is priceless and so is the gift of the Keepsake Circle.”
“To have a song written in memory of your child is one of the best things we have done as a bereaved family,” said dad Richard Cornes, of Adlington, Chorley.
Richard and his wife Jo worked on a song to remember their daughter, Sally, who passed away aged 14 after a brave four-year battle with cancer.
“We are so grateful to Derian for thinking about us because of Sally’s love of music and dance. The words are just perfect ‘There’s nothing going to stop your dancing girl’. It is as if Sally is singing it to us. It makes us feel happy and if we need a pick-me-up we play Sally’s Song.”
The family used Sally’s song – titled ‘Name in Lights’ as the finale of Shine for Sally, an annual show held in memory of Sally which raised more than £5,000 for charities including Derian House in December.
An official launch evening of the Keepsake Circle: Chapter 3 with live performances of the songs was held at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel in Blackburn on Sunday, 28 January for families who took part.
The songwriting sessions are particularly poignant for songwriter Kiki, Patron of Derian House, whose baby son Dexter was cared for at the hospice during his short life. Dexter, who was born with Zellweger Syndrome, died aged just one month and three days in 2007.
“This project is my chance to remember Dexter whilst filling my heart with the memories of more beautiful children that sadly, the world can never meet now,” said Kiki.
Kiki was also recently the figurehead of Derian House’s “Say my Child’s Name” campaign that spoke with 70 bereaved families in a bid to tackle the stigma surrounding child loss.
The ground-breaking research undertaken by the charity last year found that more than eight out of 10 parents whose child has died said they feel sad that people don’t speak about their son or daughter.
The findings were used to create a digital “what to say and what not to say” guide to help people speak to friends who have experienced loss. The campaign featured on Granada News Reports and reached more than 800,000 people on social media.
“When your child dies, after a while nobody says their name anymore, and that really hurts,” said Kiki. “The Keepsake Circle and our Say my Child’s Name campaign both have the same message. We want to remember our children and keep their memories alive. To a bereaved parent, their child’s name is the sweetest word in the whole world.”
Now in its third year, the Keepsake Circle has helped a total of 29 families and sees them sharing favourite memories of their child, which are then turned into songs by Kiki and her songwriting partner Guss.
You can stream the Keepsake Circle Chapter 3 on Spotify.
Or Apple Music.
For more information and news about the project see @thekeepsakecircle on Instagram and www.thekeepsakecircle.co.uk
29 Jan
