About Us

We are a family who following the death of our beautiful 10-month-old son, Bodie, wanted to offer support to other bereaved families. The death of a child is isolating and lonely and it can be hard to ask for help or know how we want to be supported. We were blessed to be given time away from home to be together as a family and to show our daughter that life would somehow continue and that out of tragedy comes hope. The acts of kindness that we received from others led us to decide to support other families bereaved of a child and to do good things in Bodie’s name.

The Bodie Hodges Foundation was formed in 2013, to support families who have been bereaved of a child of any age and to promote organ donation. Over the last 10 years we have listened to the families that we have met along the way and reflected on how our own grief has changed over time.

Our vision remains the same to give hope to families bereaved of a child by providing a range of services that support grieving families and encourage them to rebuild and remember.

The charity is run by its founders Nick and Donna and there are also employees and volunteers who have also experienced the death of a child. We believe that it is this love and understanding, alongside our lived experience that has enabled us to welcome so many families. We will continue to work hard to provide services that support families.

Organ Donation

We are very proud that Bodie could become an Organ Donor, giving hope and life to 4 other children.

As a foundation, this forms part of our mission to raise awareness of the facts of organ donation and we educate and encourage others to talk about Organ Donation and to start the conversation.

Bodie’s Treasured Memory Bags

Watching surviving children and those born after the death of a child grieve can be as hard and as painful as our own grief for our child, so part of our mission is also to provide child and family centred services which support families in the early days. We provide Bodie’s Treasured Memory Bags free of charge to families living in the UK. They encourage conversations around death. These are not available for professionals and are provided directly to families as a gift from us.

Bodie’s Boathouse

In 2023 we made the difficult decision to close Bodie’s Boathouse to allow us to focus on offering bereavement counselling support during the first two years to families in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. We are proud to have offered this service to bereaved families. The money from the sale of this property will be used within our Capital Appeal to buy Bodie’s House.

The Bodie Hodges Foundation has grown and gathered many loyal supporters who have helped us to build Bodie’s legacy. We are still grieving and use our experience to inform the services that we provide.

We are excited about the future of the foundation, working alongside other bereavement charities and continuing to achieve good things in Bodie’s name.

Nick and Donna Hodges – Founders and Bodie’s Daddy and Mummy