Swindon Sands

At our weekly lunchtime meeting we were very pleased to welcome Wiky Gardner as our guest and hear about Sands, Stillbirth & neonatal death charity. 

We also welcomed guests James and Kirsty, son and daughter-in-law respectively of Rotarian Mark Mudd. In 2017 James and Kirsty sadly had their own stillborn baby daughter.

Today there are still very many stillbirth and neonatal deaths in the UK. Statistics show that for 2015 the UK had 3,434 stillbirth and 2,117 neonatal deaths.

Wiky explained the work done by UK Sands since its inception 40 years ago and also the work happening locally in the Swindon Sands group supported by volunteers who have themselves experienced the death of a baby. 

This work is far reaching and involves supporting those affected by bereavement and promote research  to help prevent loss of babies lives. The work of Sands has these three core aims: 

Supporting anyone affected by the death of a baby
Improving Bereavement Care
Funding Research to reduce the number of babies dying

We heard how the local Swindon Sands group is very active in all sorts of ways including the supply of memory boxes, working with GWH maternity services, memorial services, fundraising and far more.

The talk ended with news that James and Kirsty now have happier times following the arrival of their son Louis in 2018.

Thank you Wiky for taking the time to tell us about this wonderful work.

The last picture shows contact details for UK Sands and Swindon Sands.