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Now in its fourth year, the Mearfest is a charity event run by the husband and wife team of Brian and Claire Mear to raise money and awareness for The Willow Support Group for those who, like themselves, have tragically suffered the loss of an infant who was stillborn.
Now most NWOBHM events are poorly attended so I was gobsmacked to see the event was practically sold out, even more surprising when you consider that over half of the London Metal community were away at the Bloodstock Festival for the weekend. And what a terrific event it proved to be with not only some superb sets but a friendly atmosphere full of true music loving Metalheads but also raffles galore with plenty of prizes. Not realising the earlier than usual start, I missed youngsters Kaine who I have seen on previous occasions, a band that truly embody the original NWOBHM spirit that is inspired by early Iron Maiden. I must set my alarm next time lads! Fortunately I was there in time for Troyen, a band that escaped my NWOBHM radar back in 1982. They never got past the demo tape stage back then but after reforming with three quarters of the original line-up intact in 2014 and going down a storm at the Brofest last year, the band are thankfully back to finish what they started. Leading man Steve McGuire reminds a lot of FM’s Steve Overland in looks and his soulful voice but the music is solid hard rock full of melodic and pleasingly fresh hooks. The anti-war message of ‘Don’t Send Me To War’ still rings true today and ‘Syrian Lady’ is a must hear track full of Eastern promise with a riff to die for. Sacrilege are another band that get shamefully overlooked, possibly due to the fact that two punk bands have since half inched their name after they originally split in 1983. Now back for their resurrection, Sacrilege mean business and what a hailstorm of fire they bring to the proceedings. A powerful mixture of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, Sacrilege made a thunderous noise of a heavy concrete slab pounding down on to an armoured tank. Vocalist Bill Beadle possesses a voice from Hell full of wailing screams. Things turn more demonic for the Sabbathy ‘In Hell’ when drummer Neil Turnball wears a convincing devilish mask and when the charismatic bassist Jeff Rolland looks like the hybrid of Nosferatu and a bat out of hell,you can be certain than Satan is laughing, spreading his wings… Oh lord yeah! With ‘Live Another Day’ being a catchy anthem, Sacrilege were simply magnificent. I thought The Deep would have a hard job following that but they surprisingly started off with a cover of the Simon & Garfunkel classic ‘Sounds Of Silence’, Disturbed style in tribute to the organisers and all of those who have lost loved ones. It worked a treat and vocalist Tony Coldham sang his meaty heart out. From then on The Deep could do no wrong, playing tracks from their melodic ‘Premonition’ album; a success. The night rounded off with Sarf London Metallers Desolation Angels who now feature former Elixir/Midnight Messiah vocalist Paul Taylor who is far too Metal to remove his leather jacket in this hot and humid venue. Desolation Angels had more dominance and drive on the stage and really shone on the hard drive of ‘Medusa’, a track laden with deadly riffs, as is the compelling ‘Archangel’ but highlight for me was the thump of ‘Valhalla’ which bangs that head that dosn’t bang. The Mearfest was a roaring success raising over £6,000 in total for the Willow Support Group. Next year is gonna be better with two nights announced for the weekend of 16th/17th September with the mighty Tytan and Satan’s Empire being the headliners. See ya there headbangers. Thank you Mark Taylor from MF ORIGINAL POST HERE http://www.metaltalk.net/columns2016/201617364.php#.V-QOxVY7kLI.facebook
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Not fit for humans are a Slough based punk/metal band. They played at the first ever Mearfest in 2010 held in Memory of Sally Mear ( Brian's Mum ) they were later invited to open the Borderline gig ( in Memory of Molly ) to keep the continuity and link between generations. From how I was hearing things, Desolations Angels were the only band to have had a blemish-free sound. Utterly sharp and with a well-oiled stage act, the band really seemed to have upped their performance levels since the last time I saw them, mere weeks earlier. Even lead vocalist Paul Taylor felt much more like an integral part of the band. Desolation Angels’ set list: ‘Doomsday’, ‘Fury’, ‘Medusa’, ‘Archangel’, ‘Valhalla’, ‘Only Time Will Tell’, ‘Dance Of The Demons’, ‘Evil Possessor’, ‘Spirit Of The Deep’. It’s not often you get an opportunity to see Troyen play live so I was really looking forward to the band’s show tonight. Troyen were active for a few years in the early 1980s and their only official full-length “Finish What you Started” (mainly a collection of songs written in the early days) came out in 2015 just after the band had reunited. And predictably, tonight’s set was taken entirely from that very release. Maybe it was because Troyen were sandwiched between 2 louder Metal bands but their performance sounded and appeared somewhat weak and the sound quality didn’t help matters either. Nevertheless, Troyen had some fantastic songs to work with (‘Syrian Lady’ and ‘Dreams Never Lie’ being two of them) and all of their songs deal with interesting themes and stories. In the end I got the feeling that Troyen is like a sleeping dragon in that the band has yet to realise its full potential. Troyen’s set-list: ‘Backlash’, ‘Dreams Never Lie’, ‘Finish What You Started’, ‘Don’t Send Me To War’, ‘Futures Friend’, ‘First Blood’, ‘Syrian Lady’, ‘Crazy Lady’. (I have the impression the last song was omitted due to time restrictions.) our new friends...........Kaine are one of the leading lights in the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" They were outstanding at the Borderline. With praise coming from all quarters, even Claire's non rock lovers were gigging about smiling. To hear Mike Newling Claire's 75 year old stand in dad) say it was one some of the most amazing music he had ever heard or witnessed in his long and exciting life was high praise indeed ! why not have a butchers at this........The Deep would have a hard job following that but they surprisingly started off with a cover of the Simon & Garfunkel classic ‘Sounds Of Silence’, Disturbed style in tribute to the organisers and all of those who have lost loved ones. It worked a treat and vocalist Tony Coldham sang his meaty heart out. From then on The Deep could do no wrong, playing tracks from their melodic ‘Premonition’ album; a success. take a listen to their amazing album in full. its epic!Sacrilege – the band’s set felt much darker than the previous time I had seen them perform. Sacrilege effortlessly went from doomy atmospheric numbers to catchier tunes via strong riffs, powerful basslines and guitar solos that fit snugly into their respective songs. All the while they came across as solid and convincing. Due attention was also given to visuals (for instance, as is now a tradition at their gigs, the prince of darkness himself ‘stood in’ (ahem!) for Sacrilege drummer Neil Turnbull for the song ‘In Hell’.) The audience seemed to react quite positively to the music of Sacrilege and to the direct exhortations of lead vocalist/guitarist Bill Beadle. All in all, quality stuff. Event: Mearfest (4th edition) Date: Saturday 13th August, 2016 Location: ‘The Borderline’, London, England. (EU) Bands: Desolation Angels, The Deep, Sacrilege, Troyen, Kaine, Not Fit For Humans Fund-raising Metal festivals is a concept I’m quite familiar with. I remember, for example, the annual biker rides held in the area where I grew up. One year the bikers might raise funds for an orphanage, next year for an animal shelter facility…….and each ride would end with a Metal festival. Everyone, from politicians to clergy, wanted to be seen to be involved and consequentially my local Metal scene of yesteryear earned quite a lot of mainstream respect. A similar vibe of conviviality pervaded London’s ‘The Borderline’ at Mearfest. The festival was conceived by Brian and Claire Mear to raise funds in favour of The Willows Support Group, a charity organisation that provides material and emotional support for couples who have experienced stillbirth. Despite the festival’s origins, rather than long grumpy faces swallowing up all cheerfulness like black holes, you got one big smiling family united by a genuine passion for music. Metal music. And it was great, for example, seeing the bands enjoying each other’s performances. The attendance figures were excellent too, especially considering that this was the same weekend of Bloodstock festival. The Mearfest bill was conspicuously attuned to the NWOBHM with most bands coming directly from that era and with one (Kaine) being a band of youngsters patently influenced by that very scene and another band (Not Fit For Humans) being slightly off-kilter to all that. While the following brief comments and observations are a subjective attempt to describe the bands’ performances, I feel it is just as relevant to emphasise that all bands were generally perceived and appreciated from a similar standpoint. It seems to have become a tradition that Not Fit For Humans kick off Mearfest. The band, originating from Slough, plays a mish-mash of Punk, Grunge and Classic Metal. Having a clearly-defined image, the quartet’s set, mainly made up of cover versions, provided a snapshot of every Metalhead’s upbringing. While sounding inexperienced and muddled, Not Fit for Humans nevertheless earned the audience’s cheers of approval, particularly when covering Motörhead towards the end of their show. Just then I visited the area at the back of the venue where, besides the usual band merch stands, there were various fund-raising initiatives taking place…such as an ongoing raffle where participants could win CDs, rare vinyls and band shirts. (Towards the end of the festival, there was even a Fender guitar that was won by an audience member.) After a while I heard Brian Mear introduce the next band, so back I went to the front of the stage. The band was Kaine. I heard a good deal of Iron Maiden in the music of Kaine. So obviously there were lots of guitar harmonies, soaring vocals and a blistering rhythm section. Overall an enjoyable performance, even if somewhat inconsistent. It’s not often you get an opportunity to see Troyen play live so I was really looking forward to the band’s show tonight. Troyen were active for a few years in the early 1980s and their only official full-length “Finish What you Started” (mainly a collection of songs written in the early days) came out in 2015 just after the band had reunited. And predictably, tonight’s set was taken entirely from that very release. Maybe it was because Troyen were sandwiched between 2 louder Metal bands but their performance sounded and appeared somewhat weak and the sound quality didn’t help matters either. Nevertheless, Troyen had some fantastic songs to work with (‘Syrian Lady’ and ‘Dreams Never Lie’ being two of them) and all of their songs deal with interesting themes and stories. In the end I got the feeling that Troyen is like a sleeping dragon in that the band has yet to realise its full potential. Troyen’s set-list: ‘Backlash’, ‘Dreams Never Lie’, ‘Finish What You Started’, ‘Don’t Send Me To War’, ‘Futures Friend’, ‘First Blood’, ‘Syrian Lady’, ‘Crazy Lady’. (I have the impression the last song was omitted due to time restrictions.) Next up were Sacrilege – the band’s set felt much darker than the previous time I had seen them perform. Sacrilege effortlessly went from doomy atmospheric numbers to catchier tunes via strong riffs, powerful basslines and guitar solos that fit snugly into their respective songs. All the while they came across as solid and convincing. Due attention was also given to visuals (for instance, as is now a tradition at their gigs, the prince of darkness himself ‘stood in’ (ahem!) for Sacrilege drummer Neil Turnbull for the song ‘In Hell’.) The audience seemed to react quite positively to the music of Sacrilege and to the direct exhortations of lead vocalist/guitarist Bill Beadle. All in all, quality stuff. The Deep were excellent too – their brand of music ticks all the right boxes for me. Lead vocalist Tony Coldham has an astonishing emotional depth in his singing and the rest of the band (guitarists Paul Smith and Mick Feleppa, bass player Phil Reeve and drummer Fraser Powell) wrought the songs for all their intensity. The band’s set kicked off in an unexpected manner: a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound Of Silence’, which Coldham dedicated not only to Claire and Brian Mear but also to all those who have lost a loved one which, as Tony correctly said, means pretty much everyone. Also in the band’s set was a song apparently inspired by the tragedy at the Bataclan. While admittedly I don’t remember the name of that song, it was interesting when during its introduction Tony suggested that Rock music is the best antidote and solace from all suffering in life. Amen to that, Mr Coldham. From how I was hearing things, Desolations Angels were the only band to have had a blemish-free sound. Utterly sharp and with a well-oiled stage act, the band really seemed to have upped their performance levels since the last time I saw them, mere weeks earlier. Even lead vocalist Paul Taylor felt much more like an integral part of the band. Desolation Angels’ set list: ‘Doomsday’, ‘Fury’, ‘Medusa’, ‘Archangel’, ‘Valhalla’, ‘Only Time Will Tell’, ‘Dance Of The Demons’, ‘Evil Possessor’, ‘Spirit Of The Deep’. An enjoyable night that left me yearning for a festival reprise! CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL REVIEW http://powerofmetal.dk/2016/08/mearfest-2016/       DJ Dawn King is not only a fantastic DJ but a talented writer, reviewer, model & lifelong metal head. Words & music are her passion. She played a superb set for us all night and managed to fit in some special requests.
Please read her review of Mearfest RIGHT HERE I was approached by Brian and Claire Mear well over a year ago to dj their event, organised to help raise money for The Willow Group, a charity that provides support to parents of stillborn babies, and I jumped at the chance. Not only was this a great opportunity to support them in their grief, after losing little baby Molly, but what better way to gather a crowd of metal heads together to raise money for such a worthwhile cause than a day of NWOBHM? A genre that is still very popular with a lot of metal fans, the day boasted four original NWOBHM bands in Troyen, Sacrilege, The Deep and headliners Desolation Angels, as well as Kaine, a younger band heavily influenced by the NWOBHM sound, and up and coming guys Not Fit For Humans. Held at The Borderline in London, a downstairs venue with a capacity of 300, a bar at one end and a stage at the other, this was the perfect location for an event such as this, its cellar like qualities adding to the atmosphere. Brian and Claire had a personal connection to this event, and that showed in how well run and organised it was. Having a curfew of 10:30pm, there was a strict timescale to stick to, and this was handled brilliantly by both Brian and the stage manager Kevin Riddles, each band getting on and going off when they were supposed to. The place had a great sound system, although I, personally, thought the microphones of some of the bands needed to go up a touch, and there was a fantastic vibe from the crowd that showed they were all there to have a good time in support of such a wonderful cause. The evening kicked off with Not Fit For Humans, a band who have featured in every Mearfest event since its conception six years ago. Although not a metal band, more a punk band, these guys put in a blistering performance for the whole twenty minutes they were allocated. A four piece, they describe themselves as “the best band to come out of Slough EVER!” and they were a great opener, playing a mix of covers and original songs, and as they said to me afterwards…you can’t go wrong with a bit of Motorhead, eh? Next up were Kaine, a four piece originals band and these guys total brought the house down. Playing older tracks, songs from their latest album The Waystone and new tunes, they put in one of the best performances of the night. The bass player is simply superb and Rage Sadler is the perfect frontman, playing off the crowd as only a frontman should. Troyen were the next band to take to the stage and I must say I didn’t really know too much about these, despite being friends with at least one of the band members on Facebook. Another four piece, this time hailing from Warrington, they put in a much more subdued performance than that of Kaine before them but this is still a talented band, with a great guitarist and I hope to see more of them in the future. had seen Sacrilege a few times before but I must say this was the best I had witnessed them. A crowd favourite, they were full of energy, playing the first half an hour of their set without a break. Bassist Jeff Rollins is the onstage character and Bill Beadle’s voice hit all the notes, even the high ones, every single time. This was another great performance, NWOBHM with a little bit of doom thrown in for good measure. Five piece, The Deep followed next, kicking off with their version of “The Sound of Silence” as a tribute to Brian and Claire, before launching, steadfast, into their own material. Vocalist Tony Coldham has a fantastic voice, backed by great guitarists, another superb bassist and a young, but talented, drummer. These were another crowd favourite and finished their set with Prepare To Rock, a song written after the atrocities at the Battaclan in 2015. So that just left us with headliners Desolation Angels. “Purveyors of melodic, face melting, heavy rock riffs” as stated on their Facebook page, these guys have been around since the early 80’s, albeit with various line-up changes, and this was my first time seeing them with ex-Midnight Messiah singer, charismatic frontman Paul Taylor. Playing tracks from their back catalogue, including previously released as a single Valhalla, Desolation Angels were the perfect headliner. Given nearly an hours playing time, they gave 100% to each song, putting in a performance they should be very proud of. It was great to see a collection of bands working so hard to achieve what they have. If NWOBHM is a dying genre as some people believe, and after Mearfest 4 I seriously doubt that, then the guys in these bands are doing their best to keep it alive. All in all Mearfest 4 was a total and utter success. Selling out the 300 capacity and raising £4,000.00 for The Willows Group, Brian and Claire Mear should be extremely proud of what they achieved. They have worked tirelessly for over a year to make sure this event was as great as it was, despite their grief and they truly have turned “loss into legacy” Here’s to Mearfest 5!! Saxon Davis – Kaine We have had some good press, the first was from Erikprogtricolor (press for link to review)
Erik came all the way over The Hague Netherlands for our festival. He wrote some fantastic words….. When I first heard of Mearfest 4 I knew this was going to be special. A NWOBHM Charity event in aid of the Willow Support Group for still born babies. People react different to disasters in their personal life’s, but the way Brain and Claire Mear turned their loss of Molly into legacy inspires and asks for respect. I suggest reading of Molly’s story on the Mearfest.com site for understanding a bit of the emotions behind such loss. Our Molly was called Taina and she would be a beautiful (if pushing her mom) 12 year old now. We experienced also the unprepared hospital, to deal with such a loss on a department where other babies are born. Combining this story with the fact that 6 NWOBHM bands would play I had to either go and see or just donate. Starting of matters were Not Fit For Humans. This was not a Metal band really, but they covered Priest. Kaine got things really going musically. Being announced as Britain’s hope for Heavy Metal I can agree to that as being one of Britain’s hopes. Their metal was mostly fast with two guitars in traditional style adding the spices. They are playing a lot in The Rock Den, while I hope they can follow similar young bands like Toledo Steel or Monument and make it over to the low countries one day. Next on were Troyen and looking at the band they might be still in original Line-up. I did not know them 35 years ago and they turned out to play a NWOBHR as their metal was a heavy rock. Some songs sounding rather good but fairly mild after Kaine’s thunderstorm we just recovered from. Sacrilege followed and the music turned heavy. Mixing their faster songs with the more Sabbath like heavy rockers I very much enjoyed their show. I did see them at Power & Glory two years ago, but was then recovering in between shows. Now they were more to my liking with the drumming devil. As the vocalist already mentioned their songtitles were highly inappropriate for the event, but I guess Journey was not within charity budgets . Sacrilege still do have the most striking basic Tees of the day as well. Then came The Deep, whom I say in The Hague just two weeks before. Expecting the same set, they opened upon request of Brian and Claire with The Sound of Silence. If there was a most emotional moment of the day, this was to be it and the great voice of Tony Coldham did so much justice to the occasion. Hereafter the set was completed with songs from Premonition. Seeing them twice in a row now, I do realize how good that album is and what a great live band. For me the best band of the day and pleased to see them in a full house now. After the raffle where I came awfully close, but did not win anything that would have caused me hand luggage problems at Easy jet, Desolation Angles were closing the evening. I have their EP Sweeter the Meat, but recognized to my surprise on stage the vocalist of Midnight Messiah. They were a worthy closer of the day, with a good set of old songs. Only missed the title song of the EP, which might have been caused by tight time schedules. During the day I did ran into several known people and faces. While I expected the Rock Den crowd, the bigger surprise to them and me was running into Progpower’s Mario and Luigi this time in civilian outfit though. Dealer should play The Hague next year and Martyn Turner takes some good pictures. Thanks to Brian and Claire for organizing this day. Next year a follow up is in the plans and I shall make an effort to be there again. Thank You Erik for your very kind words.  We smashed it Saturday night at the Boarderline W1, selling out of tickets (330 capacity) We raised a lot of cash through our donated gifts for our raffle, Rockerrollertombolla and ticket sales. With our previous JUST GIVING page. We managed to gather £2,194.99 just after Molly had died. The Willows were not a fully registered company then so it was split between them and the Royal Berks Still Birth unit. Thank you to everyone who attended her funeral and who donated over the last 3 years. We handed the swag bag over to The Willows today, who also wish to say a heart felt THANK YOU. TOTAL RAISED SINCE 2013/16 = £6,369.99!         Molly’s gone back to the earth and the sky, we scattered her ashes on her third birthday 12th August 2016 at the crematorium in the Willows Garden in Caversham Berkshire. It felt a relief to let her go as she has been sat in a glass dome on our living room window propped up with an assortment of grief and healing crystals. We sprinkled a handful of fine dust around a silver beerch tree. The sun was hot, the sky clear, but the wind was gusting a bit much for mid August, her dust swirled around us both for a while, I stood very still thankfully with my eyes tight shut and breathed her in, well, choked actually as I had no choice. What is incredible are the photos, the tree has imprinted an M in white paint, which we did not notice at the time. The one picture of me, the mist and energy around my belly is obvious to me, one lady a radiographer thought it was similar to an ultrasound, my left side of my head has some mist, with coloured orbs for my knees! (Taken pre scattering ) Call me crackers but Molly was with us today, as her mummy I could feel her holding my heart. Thank you Willows for this sacred space.  OUR LOSS CAN NEVER BE FOUND Life lines mapped with blackened ink Her brief time gone in a single blink The hand of our Molly recorded on card She left our world, this has been hard Knowing our loss can never be found When the print of her hand is left above ground A symbol of sorrow, as we are bereft Three years gone, an inconceivable theft Her hand now holding a thousand hearts that rock An army of hands now printed on cloth. Her body has flown, her spirit abounds She came through us both without making a sound To show us all in her own special way That anything lost will be found some other day. By Claire Mear 12th August 2016 From the very moment, you experience a still birth, every year that follows there are key dates to get through and for family and friends to be mindful of.
First is the death date, three years ago on the 10th August 2013, at 39 weeks plus 5 days, we were told Molly’s heart had stopped beating, there was nothing any one could say or do, the post mortem simply said “inconclusive!” The second date is her birth date 12th August 2013. The hospital made us go home on the death date and then wait an agonising 48 hour to return back on her birthdate to have a natural birth with no baby to take home. Christmas day comes around too fast. We are learning to avoid this day, each year becomes more painful as she is growing up in our minds and Christmas is for the kids isn’t it? Since 2013 we have not hung a slither of tinsel or cooked Christmas dinner, I half-heartedly send the odd Christmas card wishing others a very happy Christmas and a wonderful new year. New Years Eve. The countdown begins to yet another year with no living daughter and all those dates ahead to deal with yet again. When Jools Holland is on the telly, we look at each other and wonder how on earth have we survived at all. Ever thankful that we have somehow narrowly escaped a complete psychotic breakdown and divorce ? Our own birthdays go virtually unnoticed, due to plain old guilt. How dare we even think of celebrating that we are living another year, yet our baby girl did not get to breathe a single breath and live one day. I hide every Mother’s Day, am I a mother? Do I even belong in the Mother’s Day club? I am a childless mother are there any calendar dates for this? Easter is just another Sunday. Father’s Day, is when Molly’s dad drowns out his pain by a few pints and a pub lunch. Prince George celbrates abother birthday, the world celbrates with him. This is always 20 days before Molly died. Molly’s death day returns, 10th August, which is now an anniversary. Even though we are another year older but this time another year wiser, maybe stronger but little by little we are becoming more forgiving. 48 hours later it would have been her birthday number two, three, ten, sixteen….. And so it becomes one eternal jumble of dates that we try and explain to new friends and strangers why we are behaving oddly, as we do our best to duck and dive all these dates. We can never escape them, since 2013 they are now part of our normal year which is never normal ever again and will continue to stay in our annual calendar’s until our own death day. “Don’t grieve.
Anything you lose Comes round in another form.” Rumi There are some very talented special, kind and wonderful people out there. I received this incredible Molly Bear today, just before her 3rd birthday. This bear was made by Sarah Handmade Sarah Marais. I sent her the few items that were all Molly. A pink vest that I wore throughout my pregnancy, this has been used as the base of the teddy. Her pink shawl was donated from the Willows on the day Molly was born. She had been wrapped in it after birth and was kept in it until we left. The hospital gave me this back as I asked for it to be kept unwashed. As requested Sarah kept the smell that keeps me going which is now Molly Bear. Sarah has cleverly added a mini shawl that Molly Bear is holding with her paw. Molly Bears paws are made from Brian’s wedding tie, Sarah has made ears and feet pads with them, returning the original tie which she has just made shorter, so it can be worn again. The main part of Molly Bear is her baby grow, with the AC/DC logo which I found to keep her rock star daddy happy and has now inspired Mearfest, she has kept this as is sewing it into the joints. Inside Molly Bear, around her heart area is placed a small glass vial with some of her ashes. I can not thank you enough Sarah. This is just incredible I have something to hold and smell and admire. Call Sarah on 07908 701075 Email: sarahshandmadeuk@gmail.com www.facebook.com/sarahshandmade  We are raising funds for The Willow Support group based at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. At Royal Berkshire Hospital there are now three rooms that can be used for bereaved parents going through a still birth or difficult birth with complications. The Willow Room (which we had Molly in ) – Friends of Willows redecorated the whole room from top to bottom. Fitting it out with comfy double bed, many sheets, books, moses baskets, the important cooling cots that keep are babies cool so we can hold them longer. Knitted teddies, baby grows, shawls, photo paper, ink for hand and feet prints, beautiful paper to imprint, the paint on the walls, the curtains, memory boxes, the list goes on, they are thinking of new ideas every day. Every time someone uses this room which is very much daily these items need replacing. When you have just been told your babies heart has stopped, you as a couple stop thinking about details. So, its vital to help them in their time of great need. The Maple Durham room – This is upstairs at Royal Berks and can be used by parents for up to three days following the birth of their baby if they choose not to go home. Recently The Willows bought a mobile air con unit for the room. This is a purple room with the comfy feel of a luxury hotel room. Brian and I thought we had it good after Molly died in 2013, neither of us wanted to say goodbye after 15 hours, so this is just a super wonderful, thoughtful Idea. Room 15 -This is a dual purpose room. This room will also be used for mums who are in difficulty, life or death situations, not just for a confirmed still births. It has been painted by the hospital as air con was put into the ceiling. The Willows have just purchased 2 large chest of drawers and 2 bedside cabinets. The curtains have now been ordered and they are looking into getting a special recliner chair for the dads to stay in, as because it is going to also be used for emergency situations the bed must stay a single hospital mobile bed. GOD BLESS you Willows.  Please click here to listen to Brian Mear on Nervcast Radio.
 This is Molly’s hand print. I felt desperate for any answers so I went along to a country fayre and took this to the great great great granddaughter of the original Gypsy Rose Lee, she lived in an old gypsy bow top caravan, luckily she was a palm reader once I placed a big note in her palm. I didn’t tell her Molly was not with us anymore. She looked baffled as she studied the print under a magnified glass. She told me that she had never seen such an unusual hand print of a baby, she pointed out various unusual lines specially the thumb.
She said that this child is a special gift to the world, she will help many many people in pain and will raise awareness and a lot of money for charity, she is a good hearted and a powerful old soul with no cares for the material world. When I told her Molly had died two days before she was born. The palm reader held my hand tight, looked me in the eyes and said that nothing had changed, her path remains the same, as does mine. The Willows have had meetings with Caversham Crematorium regarding their baby garden that they and Berkshire Sands are currently working on. Work has started and the area is starting to come together. This year Brian and I finally have somewhere special to go and sit together in peace, remembering Molly Mear. When your baby dies at birth there are no special physical places. This is why we are raising money for the Willows, they think of everything. A garden really lives only insofar as it is an expression of faith, THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED THEIR CDS TSHIRTS POSTERS PROGRAMMES. WE APPRICIATE EVERY THING. £1 A TICKET LUCKY DIP |
