A BEREAVED mother who overcame her grief has set up a new trust in the hopes of supporting families through the same heartbreaking times she survived.

Val Isherwood, 53, of Barber Green in Grange, established the Tiger Lily Trust in December 2012.

The charity aims to help bereaved families across South Cumbria struggling to deal with loss caused by miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or terminal illness.

"We started because I lost my daughter at 32-and-a-half-weeks in 2011 and there was no support locally."

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"The nearest support group was in Blackpool and I just couldn't leave the house after Lily died.

"I put every ounce of my passion and perfection in to this - when you lose a baby everything is out of your control so things being perfect is very important," said Mrs Isherwood.

The Grange-based charity provides unique remembrance boxes to families, filled with items geared at helping them overcome their grief.

Many of the items, from blankets to soft toys are hand-crafted by many of Mrs Isherwood's service users.

She added: "My arts background I knew it would help me so I thought it would help others.

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"I think for me, I'm right there with the parents and beside them and it doesn't overwhelm me- it's the most rewarding thing I've done.

"I focus on trying to make our experiences of grief positive.

"It's brought me into contact with some of the most amazing people and we've become a big family."

Mrs Isherwood is constantly trying to fundraise for the charity and needs around £30,000 per year to keep running her services.

The trust currently offers four support groups across Barrow, Kendal and Lancashire as well as one-to-one support and creative workshops.

Mrs Isherwood also delivers training sessions with doctors, nurses and midwives, helping them understand how to deal with vulnerable patients.

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"With the best will in the world friends and family won't understand what you've been through.

"The group is very much about people knowing they are not alone and they are not crazy.

"It's definitely helped me make sense of how my daughter died," she added.

And the charity has just appointed its first patron, Leanne Brown, star of the Real Housewives of Cheshire.

Mrs Brown is a passionate advocate of the charity, having lost three babies herself.