A COUPLE from Northwich have decided to set up a charity in memory of their daughter who was tragically stillborn just over a year ago.

Stacie and Mark Cosgrove, from Winnington, were looking forward to welcoming their first daughter Matilda to the world after getting married in 2019.

But on June 30, four days before Stacie was to be induced, Matilda was stillborn in Liverpool Women's Hospital.

Speaking to the Guardian, Mark explained how it was the fundraising exploits of Matilda's cousin Nancy Carter, who inspired him and Stacie to turn such a sad and personal loss, into a positive, by helping bringing a smile to the lives of other children and their families.

Young Nancy managed to raise more than £2000 by cycling 50 miles for the cousin she never got to meet, which meant there was plenty left over after a memorial bench had been bought to sit in Gorstage Cemetery, where Matilda is buried.

Mark said: "We knew Matilda was going to be born with a few health issues, including a hole in the heart and her stomach on the wrong side.

"But she was sadly stillborn and never got the chance to fight.

"She would've ended up at Alder Hey if she would have survived the birth at Liverpool Women's but unfortunately that never came.

"Our niece Nancy raised just over £2000 and because the bench was just over £1000 we had about £800 left over.

"So we decided to purchase some presents for the children at Alder Hey at Christmas.

"We managed to get about 130 presents in total.

"There's about 270 beds and we tried to get as many presents as we could.

"Then at Easter we decided to do it again, but this time managed to get a present for the equivalent of every one of the beds."

Northwich Guardian:

Young Nancy Carter has inspired the couple to set up a charity with her own fundraising exploits.

Seeing the joy their kind act of generosity was bringing to both children and their families, Stacie and Mark decided to set up their own charity - The Matilda Foundation - with the aim of giving gifts to every child in hospital at Christmas and Easter every year.

Mark added: "We're in the process of registering the charity, and to do that we need to have an annual income in excess of £5000.

"The plan is to just provide presents to children at Alder Hey, but if we're in a position where there are funds left over, we are thinking of providing a cold cot for people who want to take their stillborn's home.

"They're obviously very expensive so a lot of places don't have them.

"We will also look at getting presents for children at other hospitals too in the future.

"Seeing how happy the gifts made children and their parents, it means something nice has come from a really bad situation.

"We're also keeping the memory of our daughter alive, which will always go on whilst we have the charity."

As part of the charity's launch, a couple of celebrity football matches are being organised at Witton Albion's home ground, with the first one planned for September 5, featuring some of the Emmerdale cast and stars of SAS: Who Dares Wins.

More information about The Matilda Foundation can be found HERE.