About – Soul Tears is an organisation founded by grief experts, who understand the journey of loss and grief, of pain and tears…but importantly who also know the value of holding on tightly to hope. Zoe and Andy Clark-Coates set up the charity Mariposa International (widely known by the name of its primary support division, ‘Saying Goodbye’), following their personal loss of five babies, and finding a lack of support available to them. They knew they had to do something to help others like them, so they used their skills in international event management, marketing and PR, combined with Zoe’s training as a counsellor, to set up the global organisation.
To give some background information on Mariposa International
The charity has six support division offering a wide range of support options accessed by over 50,000 people each week including:
Saying Goodbye – Support for anyone affected by baby loss at any stage of pregnancy at birth or in infancy, whether recently or historically.
Growing You – Support for anyone who is pregnant following loss.
Holding Hope – Support for anyone suffering with infertility or going through the journey of fertility treatment.
Waiting for You – Support for people who are on the path to adoption.
Love in Every Tear – Support for anyone who is journeying alongside someone through loss.
So Cherished – Support for parents who have received a terminal diagnosis for their unborn baby.
Another core activity of the charity is campaigning the government for change, and it is a proud stakeholder with the Department of Health. Early in 2018, Zoe was seconded by the Secretary of State for Health to oversee the national pregnancy/baby loss review, which is looking to transform the treatment of people who suffer baby loss in the UK. This resulted in a 73-recommendation report that was laid in Parliament in 2023 and started to be implemented in 2024.
Both Zoe and Andy are widely used by the media as experts on grief and loss, with regular appearances on the BBC, ITV, and Sky, as well as numerous radio shows, and writing for the Huffington Post, The Times, and other publications.
In 2017, Zoe’s debut book entitled ‘Saying Goodbye’ was published, quickly becoming a best-seller. Her hugely successful follow-up book ‘The Baby Loss Guide’ came out in early 2019, followed by her third best selling book ‘Beyond Goodbye’ late in 2019. ‘Beyond Goodbye’ is a practical and compassionate to surviving grief, with day-by-day resources to navigate a path through loss. Zoe examines the different losses we may endure in our lives from losing parents, partners, children, siblings, family members and friends, to answering the common questions that are asked in a time of mourning.
In late 2020, Zoe’s fourth book, ‘Pregnancy After Loss’, was released and became a bestseller once again. This book walks with parents through subsequent pregnancies, taking a day-by-day approach from the point of finding out they are pregnant to the point of delivery.
So why was Soul Tears founded?
Through the work of Mariposa International, Zoe and Andy witnessed a gap in bereavement care, and believed that a new organisation was needed to offer services of remembrance for anyone who is grieving, coupled with online support, media and resources.