How Beards Of Hope Supports Families Who Have Lost A Baby

“Men are often the silent sufferers in pregnancy and infant loss,” Robert Cornthwaite explains in his Beards of Hope testimonial.

“I know a year in I still struggle with the loss and think about [Minnie] every day.”

What started as just 60 men hoping to raise some cash for a worthy cause has quickly become a lifeline for men around Australia and now, in its fourth year, Beards of Hope needs your help.

The fundraiser is calling on anyone capable of growing some chin-fluff to swap their razors for beard oil and lend their support to dads whose babies have been born sleeping.

I'm almost at the end of my #beardsofhope challenge raising money and awareness for the #bearsofhope foundation. As you probably know, during this time Megs and I had to lean on @bearsofhope after experiencing our 2nd miscarriage. I can't speak highly enough of the work this organisation does for people like us. Just as beneficial has been the overwhelming generosity and support from family and friends. Both from a personal point of view and from donations for my fundraising effort. As a mark of respect and gesture of appreciation, I was convinced to adorn my beard with some of the flowers which we were sent from our caring network of loved ones. Special shout out to @dayyz_off and @raffyryan (amongst others). You have no idea what this gesture has done for our tigras during a difficult time. I started this campaign aiming to raise $500. I've since increased my target twice. So far, I've managed to generate over $1200 for a great cause. I can't express just how grateful I am to everyone who has kicked in over the last 3 months. I'm humbled and touched to have such amazing generous people in my life. Thank you. Sincerely. PS. I've grown fond of my face rug and will keep it for the foreseeable future #fundraising #beardsofinstagram #beardstagram #beard #chinpubes

A post shared by thebest2minutesofyourlife (@insta_noodz) on Aug 29, 2016 at 3:02am PDT

“Baby loss is not discriminatory,” say Beards of Hope. “It can have a lifelong impact.

“In Australia, 1 in 4 pregnancies end in loss. One precious baby dies every 3.5 minutes in early pregnancy (miscarriage loss). Six beautiful babies are stillborn every day.

“Thousands of dads and their families will need our support every year during the most devastating period of their lives.”

#beardsofhope 1st of June until 31st August. May our beards grow longer and our awareness grow stronger. Travis David Steel #pregnancyandinfantlossawareness

A post shared by @steely0309 on May 31, 2016 at 12:26pm PDT

Sports teams, clubs and even friendship groups can get involved; all you’ve got to do is join the beardy movement between June 1 and August 31 and help to raise money for Bears of Hope Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support.

And if you’ve already got a beard? You can do your part too by braving the shave in September.

Beards of Hope are aiming to raise $100,000 this year, which will go towards funding Couple Weekends, Men’s Weekends and plenty of Bears of Hopes’ other incredible objectives.

Check out Beards of Hope for all of the information you’ll need to get involved in this beautiful cause.