Mural artist aims to comfort grieving families

An artist who has painted a mural in a hospital maternity unit's bereavement room said she "just wanted to bring some comfort" to heartbroken families after the loss of a baby.

Allie Pottinger created the mural at Macclesfield General Hospital's Bluebell Suite, described as a private and peaceful space where families can begin to grieve and spend time together.

She said she chose the painting of bluebell woods for its calming properties and solace featuring a gate showing light "to offer some hope".

It is the watercolour artist's fourth painting in the hospital, which has a special place in her heart. Her late father was a consultant surgeon for 22 years and her sister also now works there.

She said she painted her first two murals at the hospital - of Shutlingsloe on the edge of Macclesfield Forest and Porth Diana at Trearddur Bay on the Anglesey coast - with her dad in mind in 2022, the year after his death.

"I wanted to gift something because he lived and breathed it," said the 60-year-old artist.

She said: "Nature is very calming - and it is better than looking at white blank walls."

Pottinger, who grew up in Macclesfield but now lives in Congleton, said it was "really rewarding" to paint murals at the hospital.

She said of her latest artwork: "I just want to bring some comfort to people who have lost babies and are in an awful state."

Her watercolour was printed, digitalised and installed on the wall at the Bluebell Suite thanks to funding from the Georgia Leigh Ogden Foundation.

The charity, which aims to help improve the wellbeing of individuals living in Cheshire and Staffordshire, was founded by Georgia's parents, Mandy and Mark, and her brother, Josh, shortly after she died in a car crash in Astbury, Cheshire, in 2020.

Mandy Ogden said: "The loss of a child, regardless of their age, is the most devastating news any parent can ever receive.

"Sadly, having experienced that heartbreak ourselves at another hospital, one memory that has never left us is receiving that life-changing news in a small, cold, clinical room, which was used for storage."

She said that "truly heartbreaking experience" inspired their donation "so that parents at Macclesfield Hospital could receive that news in a peaceful and comforting space, where they could take time to reflect together".

She said Allie "has captured that vision perfectly".

"Her incredibly beautiful artwork brings tranquillity and hope to a place where they are needed most, and we are deeply grateful for the care and compassion she has poured into her work."

Francesca Stanley, a bereavement midwife at East Cheshire NHS Trust which runs the hospital, said staff were very grateful to Pottinger for donating her "wonderful work" and the generous donation from the The Georgia Leigh Ogden Foundation.

She said: "The bluebell mural has been carefully chosen to bring the calming effects of nature into the room, helping to reduce stress and create a comforting environment during an incredibly difficult time."

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