Local Edinburgh dad, Ian Greenhill, has set himself a huge fundraising challenge, running 21.5km every day for 10 days to remember his precious son, Reuben, who was born last year at 21 weeks and 5 days. The funds raised will support the work of local baby loss charity, Held In Our Hearts.

Ian, who has already raised an incredible £8,000, is nearing the end of his challenge and said;

“I’m really enjoying the challenge the running is obviously long but all the money raised so far and the fact that I’m doing it for Reuben and for all the families who have suffered from baby loss helps to spur me on. Also I’m excited to have a pint at the end of it all.”

He said of his experience of baby loss;

“Last year my wife & I lost our son Reuben. This was an extremely confusing and upsetting time for us and I was confronted with feelings I had never experienced before. We got help from a charity called Held in Our Hearts (formerly SANDS Lothian) and their empathy and compassion helped us through this period.

When you lose a child in the way we did, it is often hard for people to understand or comprehend. The charity gave us counselling from people who had been through similar experiences and helped integrate us into support groups who showed that we weren’t alone. After this, we weren’t ashamed to say our son’s name anymore and we were/are proud of Reuben and the profound effect he has had on our life.”

You can support him here – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/reubenrun

Nicola Welsh, Chief Executive Officer spoke of the impact of Iain’s fundraising;

“We truly cannot thank Iain enough for raising such an amazing amount of money for our work. His challenge is such a touching tribute to the memory of his precious son Reuben. It has also been so heart-warming to see how much sharing his story has moved people through the huge level of support for his fundraising. In the current climate, like many other charities, we have seen a large decrease in our fundraising income, so we are even more grateful for incredible individuals like Iain to choose to support us in this way.

In a recent survey we did, 67% of families stated the lockdown has had a big impact on the care they have received. As an organisation, we are really only beginning to see the levels of trauma that families have experienced through lockdown and bereavement support for families is never more needed. We want to do all we can to support them and ensure that they are never alone and fundraisers like Ian’s can help ensure we continue to be there for families today and in the future.”