Oxfordshire Sands. Jan Newsletter. We hope the Christmas period and New Year has been gentle on you.

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1 Oxfordshire Sands Jan 2016 Newsletter We hope the Christmas period and New Year has been gentle on you.

2 The chance to openly talk to people who have also lost a baby is a lifeline, because they really do understand what I m going through. It gives me comfort and hope. GROUP MEETINGS Our group support meetings are led by Sands befrienders. You are welcome to join us from 7pm for refreshments and to have a look at the basket of support books that we have available to borrow. With the meeting starting at 7.30pm, befrienders will share their stories and experiences and you will be invited to share your story if you wish, or you may just want to come and listen to others to begin with. If you are not in a position to attend our meetings but feel you would like support from a befriender, we are always here to listen (Contact details on back page). We offer and telephone support for mothers, fathers, grandparents and anyone affected by baby loss and during the anxious time of a subsequent pregnancy. NEWSLETTER JAN 2016.indd Meeting Dates: 3rd February 2nd March 4th May 1st June 6th July 7th September 5th October 2nd November 7th December All meetings are 7:00-9:30pm Bicester Children s Centre, Queens Ave, Bicester, OX26 2NR. Tel: All adults are welcome to come along to these informal support meetings

3 Donations Donations from friends & family to celebrate Carolyn & Doug Scotts Ruby Wedding Anniversary. In memory of Claire Nic Saunders 2015 The Joe Wilkins Memorial Cricket Match PAUL DUNN Andrew Tanner competing in the 2015 London Marathon 2372 Following a previous donation to National Sands, Oxfordshire Sands have received from the funds raised by Bianca and Amanda Galukande with Tim House following their participation in the 2015 London to Brighton Cycle. Once their pledge amounts of 100 each had been met they asked that the remainder be split equally between Oxfordshire, Liverpool and Essex Sands Groups. 214 Finola McCarthy running in the 2015 Berlin Marathon MRS CHARNOCK Diane Smale in memory of Leah PINK SQUIRREL ft Tandem skydive done to raise money for Oxfordshire Sands by Zamir Akram (his first ever skydive) on Sunday 20th Sept 2015 at Hinton Skydiving Centre, Brackley. 380 was raised in loving memory of Grace Woodley, born sleeping on the 3rd October match fundraising from Microsoft from Rizwana and Andrew Gitsham s donation, in memory of their son Mohamed Gitsham

4 Donations PUDDLE DUCKS Puddle Ducks hosted their annual fundraising pyjama party which took place as part of a week-long focus on life saving for the baby and children s swimming company. This year Puddle Ducks Oxfordshire raised funds for Oxfordshire SANDS. We felt it was important to raise money for a local charity and one that does such amazing work for people affected by the death of baby. Puddle Ducks is very proud of the fact that all its classes, no matter what programme level, have strong water safety and personal survival elements threaded carefully all the way through each class, every week, all term. Highlighting some of these very important skills and making them even more fun, as well as relevant, by focusing on them in our termly held long-standing PJ week helps remind parents of how important these life skills are that we are teaching our babies and children. We feel that these termly held classes are beneficial to all in many different ways. Our lessons took place across Oxfordshire and our children, babies and parents were invited to come along dressed in their pyjamas for a small donation to Oxfordshire SANDS. We also had a raffle with prizes donated from local businesses including Salt Box Music, Zoomania and Cotswold Wildlife Park. We raised around 1,600 during the week with one of our children getting friends and family to sponsor him resulting in him raising over 225 on his own! MANY THANKS! All fundraising and donations are hugely appreciated and are much needed to help us carry out the work we do. NEWSLETTER JAN 2016.indd 6-7

5 ONLINE REMEMBRANCE NEWS Calendars with profit donations to Oxfordshire Sands Oxfordshire Sands Remembrance Books As many of you know, we also have beautiful hand-made Remembrance Books, for which entries are completed by calligraphers. These special Sands books are kept on Level 7 at the JR hospital Women s Centre, SCBU at the JR and the Horton chapel. If you would like a form to request a name dedication, please do get in touch. There is no charge for this service. As well as our Sands Remembrance books kept at the hospitals, we now have an online Remembrance Book. As part of our new Oxfordshire Sands website, which is now live, you can us at info@oxfordshiresands. org.uk to give us your baby s name to be included in this online remembrance. Oxfordshire Sands Annual Remembrance Service It was lovely to see so many of you at our Remembrance Service on 22nd November and we received a lot of positive feedback, which was much appreciated. Special thanks go to Phil Sutton for all his kind support over the years in leading our service in such a special way. Phil has now retired, but we are grateful that he has kindly offered to continue supporting the Service. We wish him well in his retirement. We raised in donations from the service. The stall at the service made Thank you! NEWSLETTER JAN 2016.indd 8-9

6 NEWS Diary dates for 2016 Snowdrop Teas onth Awareness Mev ent on Sunday June is Sandsr Ox s fordshire Sand We are planning ou details to follow. ve the date! More sa se ea pl so, ne 26th Ju Day Sands Garden embrance event at rden day and rem hire will take The next Sands ga retum in Staffords bo Ar ial or em M l the Nationa th June place Saturday 11 ds Oxfordshire San Awareness Month Event: Sunday 26th June Day yloss Awareness International Bab ht: October 15th and Wave of Lig ds Annual Oxfordshire San ervice: Remembrance S 30pm This year s Snowdrop Teas run by Anna Milloy will be held at Bridge House, Shillingford (OX10 7EU) on the weekend of 27th/28th February You ll be able to visit the willow labyrinth that has been planted with over 2500 snowdrops for lost little ones. You are welcome to plant some more in memory of your babies. There will be Sands befrienders on hand for anyone who would like to chat, and you may enjoy tea and homemade cake by the wood burning stove in the house. The event will run from 2pm-6pm on both Saturday and Sunday. It is free of charge but donations for Sands are welcome. Contact Details Befrienders: Vicky, Karen, Corinne, Jenni, Anna, Rosemary, Andrew, Ruth and Cordelia (Text or leave a message for a call back) befriender@oxfordshiresands.org.uk Donations: donations@oxfordshiresands.org.uk General Information: info@oxfordshiresands.org.uk Website: ber 2016 at 2. Sunday 4th Decem er r via , Nnseiderwedsrelecett iving our newslette rds can go towa Have you co ey donated to us on m e th of e or m do not wish to so that do? If so, or if you we rk wo nt rta po the im se do let us know. ter any more, plea let ws ne r ou ive rece NEWSLETTER JAN 2016.indd 10-11

7 OXFORDSHIRE SANDS Oxfordshire Sands (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity) is a volunteer-led group that depends on donations, dedicated to providing help and support for anyone affected by the tragic death of a baby. As a local branch of National Sands we support bereaved families across Oxfordshire. The befriender service, run by bereaved parents themselves, can be accessed via telephone and and provides direct one-to-one support, as needed, for parents who have lost a baby, or for their families and friends. Money raised by the Group is used to pay for the upkeep of the Ashfield suite at the John Radcliffe Hospital and the Forget-Me-Not room at the Horton Hospital, providing photographs of the babies and the cameras used, for remembrance cards and booklets, information leaflets provided, the Always Loved, Never Forgotten memory boxes, hospital equipment, midwife training, maintenance of Sands memorials in Banbury, Botley, Headington and Wolvercote cemeteries and Hardwick Hill Crematorium, plus the Books of Remembrance and the annual Service of Remembrance and Sharing. We hold informal group meetings once every two months, where individual stories can be shared, and support and advice can be offered in a group setting. For details on the times and dates of these meetings, please check our website. We also produce a quarterly newsletter containing details of events and fundraising, as well as shared experiences, poems, and much more. For more information about us, including how to support our work through donations, please see our website: BEFRIENDERS befriender@oxfordshiresands.org.uk Sands Charity Registration No