MBE awarded to South Devon charity founder and CEO

The leading bereavement support charity, the Mariposa Trust, is delighted to announce that it’s founder and co-CEO, Zoe Clark-Coates BCAh, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2021. The announcement will be made in The Gazette on Saturday the 12th June 2021.

Zoe, who lives in South Devon, alongside her husband Andy, founded the charity the ‘Mariposa Trust’, more widely known by the name of its primary division ‘Saying Goodbye’, in 2012 following the tragic personal loss of five babies during pregnancy. The organisation focused on providing bereavement support and services of remembrance for anyone affected by baby loss, at any stage of pregnancy, at birth or in infancy, whether the loss be recent or historic.

In addition, the charity campaigned for change to bereavement care and developed free resources to better support anyone going through baby loss. In the ensuing years, Zoe has led the charity to develop six support divisions, built a bereavement support service accessed by over 50,000 people each week, and brought many high profile figures including Nigella Lawson, Jools Oliver, Kate Beckinsale and Professor Lord Winston on board as ambassadors of the charity. Her outstanding work has previously been recognised with a Prime Ministers Points of Light Award, Influencer of the Year Award, and British Citizen Award for services to healthcare.

In recent years, Zoe has become better known as an author of multiple books on baby loss and grief, with ‘Saying Goodbye’, ‘The Baby Loss Guide’, ‘Beyond Goodbye’ and her newest book ‘Pregnancy After Loss’, becoming essential resources for bereaved people globally. In addition, many hospitals and trusts across the UK now provide Zoe’s books to bereaved parents.

Zoe’s work with the media over the past 9-years, has led to her being one of the most trusted voices regarding baby loss and grief, with hundreds of interviews and appearances for BBC TV, ITV, BBC Radio, Global Radio, Talk Radio, and numerous print media across the UK and globally. Zoe’s own TV talk show ‘Soul Tears’ has run for 3 seasons, interviewing celebrities and well known figures about their journeys of grief, loss and the transformational power of hope.

In 2018, Zoe was appointed as the co-chair of the ‘National Pregnancy Loss Review’ on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health and No.10. In this role, Zoe is advising on bereavement care for all pre-24-week gestational loss, and developing new guidance and pathways for improved care across the NHS, introducing certification and much more.
Zoe’s role within the charity and more widely as a leading voice on baby loss and grief globally, has had a significant impact on the lives hundreds of thousands of people, and as trustees of the charity, and on behalf of the staff, volunteers and fundraisers of the charity, we are delighted that her outstanding achievements have been recognised and are being rewarded with an MBE.

In response to the news, Zoe had this to say “I am overjoyed to have been included in the Queen’s birthday honours list 2021, and am truly grateful. Everything the charity and I do is about supporting people through the worst time of their life and our reward is to see those people move forward in life with hope. To know my support books and the work that we do is appreciated nationally honestly brings me to tears.”

Please see the charity websites – www.mariposatrust.org and www.sayinggoodbye.org for more information on the charity, and you can follow Zoe on the following social media channels: www.instagram.com/zoeadelle and www.facebook.com/ZoeAdelleCC/