A grieving parent is offering a beautiful and unique gift to other parents who have also lost a child. Alice Fullan is offering a body cast piece of art to parents who can’t afford it as a memory of their deceased child.
Alice lost her daughter Beth on 26th August 2019 after a life long battle with brain damage and decided to honour her memory with a body casting piece of art from Hope Street Casting Studio. Realising its comforting power, she is now offering this as ‘A Gift From Beth’ to parents who are struggling but would like to do the same.
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
Alice’s daughter, Beth, was starved of oxygen at birth and endured a life of quadriplegic cerebral palsy, scoliosis, blindness and epilepsy before passing away just days after her 20th birthday. In a cruel double blow, Alice then lost her partner, John, to liver cancer just six days later — marrying him at the hospice before he died.
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
Losing both a child and a partner in the space of a week would destroy most women but Alice has instead decided to focus on helping other bereaved parents through their grief with ‘A Gift From Beth’ — a beautiful concept she is working on with Hope Street Casting Studio owner, Ange Donohue.
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
Alice told us: “It’s easy to crumble and break when you’ve lost your daughter who you’ve spent 20 years caring for and loving, followed by your partner very shortly after. Breaking down is the natural thing to do but I wanted Beth’s legacy to live on and help other people so I decided to focus on that.”
She explained: “Beth was a truly amazing and inspirational child. Despite having a life of suffering, she was such a happy girl and a ray of light. She was always smiling. We take so much for granted in this life and complain so easily but Beth remained happy despite her awful situation and I wanted to capture that gift and pass it on in some way.”
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
Alice contacted Ange Donohue from Hope Street Casting Studio – an independent business in Liverpool that specialises in body casting and turning love, memories and people into works of art. She worked with Ange to create a beautiful sculpture of Beth’s hands to immortalise her beauty and after understanding the power of the tangible gift, she contacted Ange again to discuss helping others.
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
Ange told us: “I created Hope Street Casting Studio in 2017 with the idea of bringing together my psychology degree and art. I studied grief and came to realise that a tangible thing like a piece of art can immortalise a loved one and help with the grieving process.
She continued: “I’ve helped many people but Alice’s case is particularly special. Not only did she find comfort in Beth’s cast after losing her daughter and partner, but she took it one step further by offering it as a gift from Beth to others.”
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
The two women joined forces and Alice invested in a body cast piece of art for someone special who deserved it. Ange works closely with Claire House children’s charity and told Alice about Courtney – an 18 year old girl with physical disabilities who raised over £25,000 for the charity via an online music event. Courtney therefore became the first beneficiary of ‘A Gift From Beth’.
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
Alice explained: “When Ange and I came up with the idea of giving something back in Beth’s memory and she told me about Courtney, I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving. I had captured Beth’s beauty and shining light in the form of a piece of art and after seeing similar qualities in Courtney it felt so lovely to do the same for her in Beth’s memory.”
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
After presenting Courtney with her unique gift, Alice decided to continue the project by offering the same gift to a struggling family who had just lost their child. In December 2020, Alice paid for another beautiful piece of art in the form of a body cast to be given to the family after losing their baby Mia.
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
Alice told us: “Losing a child who you’ve loved, cared for and given everything for is the most heart breaking thing anyone can go through but I have found comfort in capturing her beauty and light and I’d like to help others to do the same. There are parents out there who would really benefit from this gift to help with the grieving process but due to finances can’t afford it. I want to offer this gift as a gift from Beth.”
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
Alice aims to offer four gifts per year from Beth to parents who have lost a child – all paid for by her – but hopes that a new Crowfunder page will raise £10,000 to help around 30 families. The page is open to donations and all money raised will be spent on beautiful casts of children who have passed away, as a gift to their parents by which to remember them. Alice is also planning on offering these families a free stay at her caravan in Norfolf following their loss.
To donate to the new Crowdfunder and give bereaved parents the gift of a cast CLICK HERE!
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