More than 400 baubles celebrating babies born during the coronavirus pandemic have begun to be placed on Christmas trees in Bury St Edmunds.

The Trees of Hope project by the Crafty Foxes art group and tourism brand Bury St Edmunds and Beyond has given families the chance to share their hopes, advice and wishes for the future for their child.

Each clear bauble contains rainbow-coloured ribbon and details of the baby's name, weight, day of birth and date of birth, along with the special messages.

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Yesterday, 180 of the baubles were placed on the Christmas tree on Angel Hill, with help from members of Bury Abbey Rotary Club who volunteered to hang the decorations.

The project follows on from the Stars of 2020, which saw children's positive memories of lockdown placed on Christmas trees last year.

Michelle Freeman, from the Crafty Foxes, said many new parents have felt very isolated during the past year and have had no way of connecting or meeting other new parents.

"Hopefully this project helps them celebrate their newborn and also provides an opportunity to get out in the fresh air to visit the bauble as a family," she added.

It also gives other family members the opportunity to spread the joy of a new baby too, she said.

"We also hope it will make people stop and reflect on the year gone by and think about what’s really important and what we can learn going into the future. Love, friendship, time together, kindness, and health all come way before wealth."

Melanie Lesser, chairman of Bury St Edmunds and Beyond, added: "This is a nice way for relations to celebrate their babies."

The baubles, that have been handmade, have also been placed on the Christmas tree in the Traverse and are soon going up on ones at the Theatre Royal and St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

The Crafty Foxes website said: "Thank you so much to everybody who has got involved in this inspiring project: by helping to create and hang the baubles, entering your form, hosting a pile of leaflets, or simply spreading the word and sharing our posts. And to the midwifes who delivered the babies."

A cherry picker provided by Austin Cornish of Bury Developments was used to help place the baubles and Christmas trees were supplied by the Rougham Estate.

People can collect their baubles from Bury St Edmunds Library in January.

Funding for the project has come from Bury St Edmunds Town Council, Our Bury St Edmunds, the Bury Society and West Suffolk councillors.

Baubles are placed according to the month a baby is born: for January, February and March it's the Angel Hill tree, for April, May and June it's the Traverse tree, for July and August it's the cathedral tree and for September onwards it's the Theatre Royal tree.