Anam Cara Fasgadh Butterfly Releases
Anam Cara Fasgadh cofounder Susan Simpson first hosted a butterfly release in Inverness in 2013 when she was Highland Ambassador for baby loss charity SiMBA.
Since then she and the Trustees have hosted releases throughout Scotland, until the pandemic brought a halt to these poignant remembrance events. In 2023 the Trustees agreed that it was time to bring these beautiful memorial events back to the families who so love them.
Inverness Memorial Event with Butterfly Release 2024
with Highland Voices Choir
On Sat 17th Aug 2024, bereaved families gathered together at Lochardil House, Stratherrick Road, Inverness, IV2 4LF, for a short service of remembrance, during which we each released a live butterfly (or butterflies) in memory of our children.
The day was hosted by cofounder Susan Simpson, trustee Tracey France, and our Highland ambassadors Catriona Gray and Sara Hearmon. We are so grateful to our amazing volunteers Jane & Aila Hepburn, Lisa Davies, Lorna Murdoch, Jayne Jeffery, Norma Murray, and Megan Urquhart. Anam Cara Fasgadh Patron Mairi Rodgers read a poem, as did Deputy Provost of Inverness Morven Reid.
We were joined by the world famous Highland Voices choir, who chose a beautiful play list for the day.
2024 Memorial Event with Butterfly Release - Oban
Louise watches Elsie’s butterfly take flight
On Sat 18th May 2024, the Trustees were delighted to return to Dunollie Museum, Castle & Grounds to release butterflies in memory of their children gone too soon.
Trustees Andrew, Irene, Tracey and Susan were assisted by volunteers Yvonne & Tayler Robinson, May & Eachann McKenzie, Youth Champions Scott France, Charis & Noah Simpson. Kevin McGlynn captured beautiful images of the event.
Singer Suzie Guthrie travelled all the way from Glasgow to sing for us, and composed a song especially for the day called Bluebells.
We were also joined by Sophie from Play Prodigy and Lisa from ReLisa Scent.
Jim Lynch, leader of Argyll & Bute council, shared how important events like this are to help families see that they are not alone. Jim released a butterfly as a mark of respect for the countless families in Argyll who live with the pain of losing their beloved child, especially those who have been bereaved this past week through the loss of a baby and young person.
2023 Memorial Event with Butterfly Release - Oban
Lana-Jae releasing butterflies for her brothers.
In 2023 Susan and the Trustees were privileged to host an Anam Cara Fasagadh Butterfly Release in Oban. It was a truly poignant event, bringing over 50 of us together to remember the baby, child or young person whom we could not watch grow up.
Though these butterflies look fragile, they are incredibly strong and resilient because they migrate to North Africa each Autumn. That reminds us of what each bereaved family goes through - the fragility of a broken heart but the strength that bereaved families find to keep living without their child.
Pop over to our Instagram page to see photos from the day.
ABOUT OUR BUTTERFLIES
The butterflies chosen are bred in sterile conditions by Tim, an award winning educationalist and entomologist in Coventry. The Trustees have worked with him since 2013 when Andrew & Susan organised and hosted an event in Inverness for SiMBA charity.
The butterflies that are bred for the releases are Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui) which are an annual migrant, arriving in the UK every April - May from Europe and Africa. The reason Tim breeds this species is that they are one of the most widespread species of butterfly, found right across the world, and they do not impact the native butterflies when they are released. They are recorded as being found almost anywhere, from the seashore and town gardens, to the tops of the highest mountains in Europe & Africa.
Painted Lady has been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2020 and is listed as Least Concern - they are the only butterfly species ever to have been recorded from Iceland.
The butterflies are sent to us in a state of hibernation in their own sleep-box. They are gently woken during our service by the warmth of the loving hands of our families holding their individual boxes.
The butterflies feed on a wide variety of flowers, over 300 recorded host plants, and the caterpillars feed on thistles, mallows and Viper's-bugloss, as well as a wide variety of cultivated plants. An adults life span has been observed to last from 14 to 28 days.
After release, the female butterflies can lay anywhere from 200 to 500 eggs throughout her lifespan. It takes up to a week for the eggs to hatch, and the caterpillar stage lasts for around 10 to 14 days, then will then spin a silk chrysalis for themselves in a quiet, sheltered spot & after 7 to 10 days the adult butterfly emerges.
And so they will continue until the generation that is ready to migrate in the Autumn takes to the wing to start the journey of up to 9,000 miles to their winter grounds ~ these incredible creatures can fly for up to 12 hours a day using the sun to navigate back to Africa.
Richard Fox, Surveys Manager at Butterfly Conservation, reports, “This tiny creature weighing less than a gram with a brain the size of a pinhead and no opportunity to learn from older, experienced individuals, undertakes an epic intercontinental migration in order to find plants for its caterpillars to eat. Once thought to be blindly led, at the mercy of the wind, into an evolutionary dead-end in the lethal British winter, this amazing combination of mass-participation citizen science and cutting edge technology has shown Painted Ladies to be sophisticated travellers."
If you would like to be kept informed about future Butterfly Release events, or you would like our support to host one in your area, email Irene on info@anamcarafasgadh.org.