Joyce Borman #volunteerweek

🌈 Rainbow Star Award 2026 – Honouring Joyce

For Volunteers’ Week 2026, we are proud to present a Rainbow Star Award to someone whose dedication, compassion, and quiet strength have shaped our organisation from the inside out.

Joyce is not only a volunteer — she is the heartbeat of our creative team, the steady pair of hands behind thousands of precious items, and the person who shows up, every single day, with love stitched into everything she makes.

For nearly eight years, the three of us — me, Joyce, and Sam — worked side by side as volunteers. We learned to rely on one another’s strengths, to recognise our limitations, and to carry each other through the hardest days. That bond has never left us. It lives on in every memory box, every tiny crib, every gown, and every family we support.

🌼 A Lifetime of Service

Joyce has spent over 40 years donating, creating, and giving back to families experiencing loss. Her hands have crafted:

• Burial gowns made from donated wedding dresses

• Forever cribs for babies born too soon

• Crochet and knitted items of every shape and size

• And countless bespoke pieces created with care, dignity, and respect

If we ask for something — and it’s within reason — Joyce finds a way to make it happen. Her skill is extraordinary, but her heart is even greater.

🌟 Above and Beyond, Every Single Day

Joyce works every hour God sends, often late into the night, ensuring families receive items that bring comfort, dignity, and a sense of being held during the darkest moments of their lives. She is a pleasure to work with — calm, steady, and full of quiet humour that makes even the hardest days feel lighter.

She is, without question, the glue that keeps us together.

💛 A Volunteer Who Embodies Love in Action

This Rainbow Star Award recognises not only Joyce’s craftsmanship, but her humanity. Her loyalty. Her unwavering commitment to families she may never meet, but holds in her heart all the same.

Joyce, thank you for everything you have given — and continue to give — to Handmade with Love & Making Memories CIC. Your work has touched thousands of lives, and your legacy will continue to shine through every family who finds comfort in the items you create.

You are a true Rainbow Star.And we are honoured to walk this journey with you.

Joyce is on a roll again with her beautiful summer gnomes — and we all know how loved these little characters have been over the years. This gorgeous one will soon be heading to the Sunflower Suite at the Royal Oldham, EPAU Department, ready to bring a little comfort to families who need it most.

He will be placed into the caring hands of Lead Bereavement Nurse Laura during our June Launch, offering gentle cuddles, warmth, and a much‑needed smile during the hardest of moments. 💛💚🌻

Thank you so much, Joyce. Your dedication, your creativity, and the love you stitch into every single piece truly make a difference. This little one is absolutely adorable and will no doubt bring comfort and a sense of connection to families navigating heartbreaking days.

Watch this space — more magical memories are on their way.

For two years solid, Joyce worked on our "Rainbow Project", preparing handmade items and creating Jonathan the Caterpillar - Our Mascot, in memory of Luanne and Harry's son. Each Rainbow family was given one of our "Rainbow Tote Bags, with special keepsakes, a rainbow hat, and a matching bonding square for parents to hold to help relieve stress. Special keepsakes to help you bond with your baby, and a journal to use from the moment you find out you are pregnant after loss. Together with rainbow parents, we put together some useful ideas and Q&A on a Rainbow Help sheet, which is included with every bag and Rainbow Box for Dads. We also deliver our Rainbow Hats to the Rainbow Clinic if parents do not want to engage onsite.

Our new "Rainbow Craft Group" will be based in Manchester City Centre. The group opens this summer, and Joyce has introduced a Rainbow Gnome to accompany Jonathan the Rainbow Caterpillar on his travels this summer. And is working on the sensory rainbow gifts and worry monsters. This will be our fifth year operating as Handmade with Love and Making Memories CIC. It has enabled us to create Rainbow Fun events for families, provide online support, work and signpost to local support groups, and support an amazing charity called "Joel's" that has now closed down. Sadly, we have seen so many over the last few years as expenses have started to mount and more families need help and support. For some, another year is not possible. The heart and soul of creating is Joyce and her Worry Monsters, who support children with Cancer at Jack's House and Christy's Hospital.

We cannot wait for this month's nox to arrive.

Plenty of Joyce's handmade-with-love baby loss ribbons have been pre-ordered. As always, as soon as we share, people from all over the world start commenting.

You truly are an angel that walks the earth. Thank you from the team.

https://youtu.be/2ecT733-KIg?si=ZzsCrt61nW8gj7px