Charity fundraiser for twins born asleep

Sian Epton, Jonny Grogan (winner of the silent auction) and Graham Epton

Graham and Sian Epton of Halifax organised the evening in memory of their children who were born sleeping three months ago.

The pair found out in February of this year that they were to be the parents of two identical twin girls.

Sian said: “We were naturally delighted yet nervous about how our lives were going to change forever.

“But on May 9, after experiencing reduced fetal movement and a checkup at the hospital we were referred immediately down to the Fetal Medicine Unit at Birmingham Women’s Hospital with suspected Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome.”

Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome is a serious life threatening condition where one twin is getting more blood than the other.

Graham said: “On the morning of May 10 our world came crashing down around us, we had lost our precious daughters.

“Two days later on May 12 we met our little angels, Lyla and Grace.”

So far £6,700 has been raised and will be split between two charities, the Birmingham Women’s Hospital Fetal medicine unit and 4Louis which is a charity that provides memory boxes to bereaved parents for still birth and neonatal deaths.

Both charities helped Sian and Graham significantly in their time of need.

The evening was a huge success and money was raised through a variety of different events such as a tombola and a silent auction.

Pig racing was the most popular event of the evening as the crowd cheered on their furry racer to reach the finish line first.

Jonny Grogan of Bradford bagged himself a signed 2016 England shirt in the silent auction for £300.

Chris Bell of Oxenhope won the evening’s top prize after single-handedly raising £1000 in raffle sales and donations.

He won a seven night holiday for two people at a Fergus hotel in Majorca with flights donated by Jet2.com.

Chris said: “ Top prize! I’ve stayed at a Fergus hotel before and it was amazing”

Graham and Sian are grateful for all the support they have received and say if helping to raise funds can help just one family in a similar situation then it won’t have been in vain.