STAFF at a funeral service are ‘honoured’ to be nominated for a national award for their work helping families who have suffered stillbirths.

Lianna Champ and Carl Taylor from Champ Funeral Services in Clayton-le-Moors have been nominated for a prize at The Butterfly Awards 2017.

The pair are one of 10 shortlisted for the bereavement worker of the year award at the national ceremony.

They were nominated by families who they helped provide care for as part of their ‘Angel Babies’ work.

This is the work they offer for families who come to them after suffering a stillbirth.

Ms Champ, managing director, suffered a miscarriage herself at 15 weeks and said it is an honour to be shortlisted for the ‘prestigious’ prize.

The mother-of-two said: “It’s quite an accolade.

“I've suffered loss myself, we just try to create a safe and secure space for families to grieve.

“Every family that comes to us is an individual and special case and we put 100 per cent into it.

“We really connect with them on a personal level, we become friends

“Carl is like my right hand, its vital to us providing a thread that’s never broken to anyone who comes in to see us.

“It’s an honour to just be nominated, if we could win it would be fantastic.”

She also said the Whalley Road funeral practice has had more stillbirth cases this past year than they have in previous years.

The Angel Babies service at the funeral parlour helps families who have suffered stillborn babies or babies who were born asleep early in the pregnancy.

Staff said ‘communicating and listening’ with families was key to their work, and they look for feedback to keep on improving future services.

Ms Champ is also working on releasing a book which should be released next year provide advice on dealing with stillbirths.

Mr Taylor, 36, was also delighted to be listed for the award and is hopeful of winning the prize.

The father-of-one said: “We are very proud to be nominated for this, it’s a very prestigious award.

“It was overwhelming and it was quite emotional as well.

“We try and take a modern approach to it all, we just listen to people.

“Everything we do we just put our all in to it to help people who come to us.”

Mr Taylor and Ms Champ are now encouraging people to vote for them and aid their quest to win the award.

People can vote for the pair to win the award online at babylossstar.co.uk/voting after voting opened on Saturday.