A charity has generously donated dolls to a hospice in support of children with a sibling in care.

The Lexi Doll Charity visited the Little Havens Hospice in Thundersley to donate these specially designed dolls.

Little Havens Hospice offers specialist care to adults, babies and children experiencing pain and trauma.

Jessica Frost tragically lost her daughter Lexi shortly after giving birth and decided to set up the Lexi Doll charity in her memory.

Mrs Frost’s young nieces struggled to come to terms with the loss of Lexi. So, Mr and Mrs Frost improvised and decided to give both their nieces a doll each and called it Lexi.

From this the couple learnt that the children could cuddle and play with the doll to help them process their loss.

Mrs Frost explained how they accidentally came across the idea. “When we saw how our nieces responded to having their very own ‘Lexi’ doll and how it helped them to process what had happened, we decided that we wanted to do this for other children in similar situations.”

“And because it was our daughter who inspired this idea, we decided to call them Lexi Dolls,” she added.

The idea was originally intended for neo-natal hospital wards but after discovering the Little Havens hospice, a partnership between the two was formed.

“We originally only donated the dolls to units, but we visited Little Havens last year and were just in awe of what the hospice does for so many families across Essex,” said Mrs Frost.

“We were especially impressed by the support they provide to siblings throughout their journey including helping them during bereavement and knew our dolls would help Little Havens continue to support the children who have experienced a loss.”

Jane Fieldson, a Family Support Counsellor at Little Havens hailed Mrs Frost for the collaboration and her inspirational idea.

“We are really grateful to Jessica and her team at The Lexi Doll Charity for choosing to donate some dolls to Little Havens,” she said.

“Where there has been the loss of a baby, the Lexi Dolls provide a simple but effective idea to help us continue to care for the child who has been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness and also the whole family.”