Random acts of kindness advent calendar by grieving mum
A mother of a stillborn son has made an advent calendar encouraging children to carry out daily acts of kindness.
Jenny Whatling's son Jude was stillborn at 41 weeks in May at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital after what she said was a "textbook pregnancy". She said she thought up the calendars to help keep her busy "within my grief" and raise money for the hospital. The Random Acts of Kindness calendars have so far raised £4,000 towards a new £35,000 bereavement suite. Mrs Whatling, 30, from Harleston, Norfolk, said the success of the advent calendars - which include ideas like donating to a food bank or hiding nice messages - was "really bittersweet" because "I wish I didn't have the time to do this". "It's difficult to explain but after a loss, you have a lot of unexpected time on your hands," she said. "A person missing from everything that you planned to do. All of these weeks and months I should have been busy with Jude. "It's nice to think of Jude's name being all over the world, and people doing acts of kindness in his memory." The calendars come as 25 small brown numbered envelopes, which include a challenge aimed at primary school-aged children for every day in December. Mrs Whatling said the success of the 800 calendars - which sold out more than a week ago - had been unexpected. "Everyone has jumped on board with the kindness aspect of it," she said. "One lady said she hadn't been looking forward to Christmas because she had lost her dad a couple of years ago. Now she and the children are looking forward to something positive to do." The hospital's new bereavement suite would give families a private space to mourn, unlike Mrs Whatling, who was kept on a normal delivery suite. "Walking out, around people who are preparing to take their babies home, is really awful," she said. "We just want to make that part of people's life a little bit more bearable." Louise Cook, the hospital's head of fundraising, said Mrs Whatling was inspiring.