I dedicate this page to our gorgeous little angel ~Sophie Cleo~ who was born sleeping on 14 December 2008 and to all the other angels that are playing with her in heaven. May our beards grow longer and awareness stronger - much needed funds to help grieving angel fathers.

Losing ~Sophie~ was the toughest experience in life, even greater than losing my best friend (my father) two years earlier. Just as there is no book on how to become a father, there is absolutely no book on what to do when you lose your daughter. Life is full of defining moments – those moments that you remember forever – and when we received our Bear of Hope it was a turning point in our grieving process. Despite people telling you to move on, life still sucks and losing ~Sophie~ hurts every single day. The only things that change is that you learn to cope and come to the realisation that life is too short and precious. We told our little girl that we would make a difference and are glad that our part in this program may help other families who receive a Bear of Hope named in her honour.

Over the last seven years we have been endlessly searching for answers to questions that start with "Why" as well as meeting so many other angel parents who have suffered the same cruel hand as us. We have been fortunate that Bears of Hope has been an outlet to help us and as a committee member, I want to continue to give back as much as possible.  Over the last few years I have dressed up as a leprechaun & run marathons around the world to raise in excess of $50,000 for Bears of Hope.  But my knees are stuffed these days & I can hardly walk across the street without any pain. 

One of the hardest things when I ran the marathons as Larry Leprechaun was having to put up with the laughter from the public when I was doing something so personal just so I could help provide a lifetime of support to other angel parents.  This time around I am once again going to put up with more ridicule from the public by growing a beard in this tremendous Beards of Hope initiative - an initiative by Bears of Hope which raises funds specifically to help grieving fathers.

The results of our fundraising efforts in the past have meant that Bears of Hope have been able to achieve some of its goals including:

a) our own branded Bears of Hope bear (named after our little Sophie) and which has subsequently followed the Hope Bear and Xavier Bear

b)  our own Bears of Hope package

c)  our own Bears of Hope House in Castle Hill Sydney which hosts one-on-one meetings with parents as well as monthly support meetings with trained psychologists; stores the 2,100 Bears of Hope packages (and all of their supplies) that get delivered to hospitals around the country each year and provided a premises which can mean that the ladies of Bears of Hope can get their own houses back rather than having them filled with boxes as well as secure the future of Bears of Hope and simply signifies Hope.

Any donation would be gratefully appreciated.  Donations of $500 (and above) will Buy A Brick which will recognise your yourself, your organisation or your angel baby at our Castle Hill premises.

Your donation is 100% tax deductible.  All donations to this site are electronically wired directly to Bears Of Hope and a tax deductible receipt is emailed to you immediately. 

Help me make a difference by making a small donation - every little helps. Thank you for your support & may a special angel shine down on you.

Adrian Raftery aka Larry Leprechaun - Commitee member of Bears of Hope Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support Inc

PS If you would like to join our Beards of Hope campaign then simply set up your own fundraising page ... the more the merrier! May our beards grow longer & awareness stronger!