Sunderland Top Model North East finalist hosts baby hospice fundraisers

Bethany Louise Carr, a freelance model and hospitality worker from Hetton is a contestant at the Top Model North East final, which will be held at the Grand Hotel in Seaburn on Sunday, July 2.

The event is supporting Zoë's Place Baby Hospice in Middlesbrough, which provides a short break service, palliative and end-of-life care to babies and infants aged from birth to five years, living with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.

The hospice has no catchment area and provides care free of charge for families throughout the UK.

Bethany, 28, has two children with partner Scott Hughes. They marry in October and have two sons, Riley, two and a five-month old Brodie. As a mother she is more than happy to support the charity and has organised two events to raise funds.

A charity music night called Songs For Bears – the Zoë's Place logo is a teddy bear – at the White Lion pub in Houghton on Saturday, June 17 at 8pm with three singers: Ryan Robinson, Jay Carr and Patrick Ashurst. Entry is free but donations will be collected and a raffle held.

The same day Bethany will have a stall at Hetton Carnival, 10am-5pm, with a Teddy Bear Tombola and “also raffling off a very big bear”, also for the same cause. The concert and the stall are not her first efforts to help Zoë's Place.

Bethany said: “I have two young children, but I couldn’t think how it would be to be in the position of the parents and families of the babies in the hospice and need that end-of-life care.

“I’ve got a few other charity events planned. I’ve already done two charity photo shoots with another two coming up.

“In March I did 3,000 sit-ups in 30 days; 100 sit-ups per day in the month.”

The sit-up challenge was more difficult than it might sound, as Bethany had only recently given birth to Brodie.

She added: “Without the help and support from the general public it would not be possible for Zoë's Place to open their doors to babies and their families.”

To donate to a very worth cause, visit Bethany’s JustGiving page.