A GRANDMOTHER is taking part in a charity walk in memory of her twin granddaughters.

Jayne Williams, 60, from Hurstpierpoint, will be joining Chestnut Tree House’s Night to Remember midnight walk next week.

The hospice, near Arundel, supported the family when the girls died so she is passionate about the charity and keen to encourage others to take part.

There is now just over a week until registration closes and this will be the third time that Jayne has taken part.

She has signed up a team of 12 women to walk and two men as volunteer marshals on the night.

She said: “The night is such good fun and of course, it’s all for a brilliant cause.

“Chestnut Tree supported our family when my twin granddaughters Nancy and Nora died,

“They responded in a timely and caring way, they were never intrusive but they were able to provide us with the practical support we needed at the time.

“We are so, so, thankful that Chestnut Tree was there when we needed them.

“Chestnut Tree helped us bring the girls home, something that we didn’t realise was possible but that really helped the whole family.”

After a difficult pregnancy, with the girls suffering from twin to twin transfusion syndrome – an issue where identical twins have too many connecting blood vessels which can prove fatal – Nancy and Nora Raisbeck were born at 23 weeks and lived for just a few minutes.

Chestnut Tree arranged for the girls to spend a night at home before going to the Stars bereavement suite at Chestnut Tree House, where they stayed until their funeral.

Parents Sarah Willbridge-Raisbeck and Vicky Raisbeck said: “Without them we would have had a few hours at the hospital and that would have been it. Chestnut Tree gave us time to say goodbye, to make some positive memories of the girls.

“Beyond that, they enabled us to think about things that just wouldn’t have occurred to us whilst we were so wrapped up in grief.

“They took footprints of the girls, which were put on to tiles for us to keep. They enabled us to have frank and honest conversations about what could happen, they gave us choices.”

All Chestnut Tree’s care is provided to families free and the charity receives less than seven per cent of its funding from central Government, meaning it relies on fundraising to continue offering care to children and families in Sussex.

Last year’s walk raised over £76,000, enough to pay for 11 days of all Chestnut Tree’s care services.