A MOTHER is raising money for the maternity unit at York Hospital with a Big Balloon Pop.

Annika Dowson is organising the "pop" on Friday, February 16, from 10am to 2pm, at the Feathers in Helmsley.

The event is described as being like a raffle or a tombola, in a room full of a “minimum” 500 balloons, many of them with prizes inside.

For a donation, participants can pop a balloon in the hope of getting a winning ticket.

Prizes will include everything from boxes of chocolates to York Theatre Royal tickets.

“The thing is just to go in and have fun,” Annika said. “People like the idea.”

For the Big Balloon Pop, Annika said the venue has been receptive to the plan. “The staff at the Feathers are really supportive of the event,” she said.

She added that she always includes balloons in her fundraising. “They symbolise my daughter up in heaven.”

Annika, who lives in Helmsley with husband James and son Nathaniel, has campaigned on parental bereavement after the couple’s daughter, Gypsy, was stillborn in 2008.

Since then Annika has helped raise thousands of pounds for the new bereavement suite at Scarborough Hospital’s maternity unit.

The £130,000 suite was completed in May 2016. Designed for use by those families who lose a baby in pregnancy or shortly after birth, the private space just off the labour ward allows families to be together in a quiet and comfortable environment.

Annika also organised for York Hospital to be lit in pink and blue in October to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week. The purpose of the week is to raise awareness about the issues surrounding baby loss in the UK, and push for improvements in services and policy around bereavement support.

Also in October, a new law granting new rights for bereaved parents was introduced into Parliament by Ryedale MP Kevin Hollinrake, a supporter of Annika’s work.

The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill had its second reading in mid-October.

The new law, once enacted, will give employed parents two weeks’ paid leave if they lose a child under the age of 18.

The Big Balloon Pop will raise money for the York Teaching Hospital Charity, with Annika aiming to raise enough for a second bereavement suite at the maternity unit at York Hospital. The first was opened in 2010.