Baby loss charity hit by suspected arson attack

A baby loss charity in Nottinghamshire has suffered damage to its building after a skip fire was thought to have been started deliberately.

Forever Stars in Beeston provides support for bereaved families to help them come to terms with baby and infant loss.

Dan Barnett, vice chair and trustee of the charity, said the damage meant the building has had to close until Saturday when volunteers can start cleaning up.

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to Wollaton Road in Beeston where was a skip was alight against a building and investigators believe it was started deliberately.

Nottinghamshire Police also confirmed it had been made aware of the incident.

Barnett told the BBC he was shocked when he heard the news.

"I quickly put that anger to one side because when you have experienced baby loss and the community we've built, we're very strong, [so] that anger quickly turned to 'what do I need to do?'," he said.

"The damage is quite extensive on the exterior and obviously there's smoke damage inside. I've been told the smell of smoke is overwhelming.

"It seems like they set fire to a wheelie bin and a skip outside where we've been renovating inside, and the skip backs onto our building.

"The outside of the building is charred where the skip was on fire [and] it's melted and smashed windows there.

"All the incoming services into the building come up that way, so our office is down, we've got no power, no internet, no phones.

"There's probably £600 of Vinted stock inside and we will probably now need to either try and wash or bin it."

Barnett said a room the charity uses for counselling had also been affected by the fire.

"We spent a lot of money on the play room where baby loss siblings come and get free play therapy, so that's probably the biggest impact," he said.

"[We need to get] that room ready for the kids going through counselling, any pause in that treatment, it's just not good for them.

"We're a drop-in centre as well for anyone going through a loss or just wants to come and have a chat or has been through a loss 30, 40 years ago can come up and chat."

The fire has prompted offers of support from the public.

"From 10 o'clock last night to now, I'm getting offers of help," Barnett said.

"An absolute barrage of people are willing to come in and scrub the walls and [do] whatever needs doing on Saturday.

"It's truly humbling. [They're] not directly affected by baby loss themselves, but they know about the services that we provide.

"I've got a bunch of volunteers and we'll scrub the walls, hoover it out and get all the windows and doors open.

"Then if I can get someone to come and do the window, maybe someone to look at the aircon, that would be a massive bonus."

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