A YORK mother is planning a family fun day to raise funds for research into cot death - almost eight years after her baby died from the syndrome.

Amy Yates and her partner Matthew Brown woke up one day in 2010 to find their nine-week-old son Leo wasn’t breathing in his Moses basket next to their bed.

A desperate battle to resuscitate him was in vain and it was later confirmed he was a victim of cot death, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Amy, now of Roche Avenue, Bell Farm, said it was only now that she felt able to organise a major fundraiser in his memory to help the Lullaby Trust, which aims to end cot death through funding research and providing parents with information on how to reduce the risks.

“I haven’t had the guts to do it before now,” she said. “I’m hoping to raise £1,000 for the trust if I can.”

She said the event would take place at Tang Hall Working Men’s Club in Melrosegate from noon until midnight on Saturday June 2, with activities aimed at children during the afternoon and adults during the evening.

“We’re having tricks and model ballooning by Magic Merlin between 12 and 4pm,” she said.

“We’ll have games such as musical chairs, face painting and hair braiding, and a buffet and bar and there will be a raffle with lots of prizes, including a day’s cleaning by Andy Clean, a gift card from Browns department store, a Co-Op hamper, beer, a £20 bunch of flowers and ear piercing.”

She said friends Carrie Martindale, Alison Simpson and Donna Holmes were helping her in organising the event.

Amy said she had already raised £400 through collection tins which businesses had agreed to put on their counters but she was concerned as much about raising awareness as funds. “You hear on TV all the time about other charities but rarely hear anything about cot death,” she said.

The Lullaby Trust confirmed Amy was authorised to raise money for the charity and said that as well as funding research and providing parents with information, it also provided support to families affected by SIDS, which still claimed the lives of four babies a week in the UK.