Sands wants to ensure there is a dedicated space in every hospital for parents experiencing a bereavement. Parents should be able to stay in a comforting, quiet, and self-contained set of rooms during those first few days of grief, where they can also receive all the medical attention they need.

Bereavement suites must achieve a certain standard of quality:

• Close enough to the maternity unit that mothers can receive excellent medical care
• Secluded enough that bereaved families are not exposed to the sight or sound of healthy babies; neither when receiving care and accessing facilities, nor when travelling between the bereavement suite and the entrance to the hospital
• Sufficient comfortable space for partners to stay as appropriate
• Self-contained as far as possible, with facilities for personal hygiene and making hot drinks

They must be properly maintained once created and ready to be used by families who need them whenever a baby dies.

They must be accessible and welcoming to people of all faiths and backgrounds.

They must be one part of a wider commitment by the Trust to providing excellent bereavement care, by signing up to the nine standards of the National Bereavement Care Pathway.

 

The cost of developing a bereavement suite can vary considerably, particularly in cases where building works are required to adapt existing architecture. Sands normally offers grants of up to £5,000. We will, however, consider applications of all sizes. Larger grants may require fundraising over a longer timescale. Sands will consider match funding proposals.

 

Sands will also consider funding refurbishments of existing bereavement suites, or the provision of new equipment within them. Funding will be provided on the basis that the equipment is for the sole use of bereaved families, and that it is not standard equipment we would expect the Trust to purchase.

Sands wants to ensure there are accessible community spaces, dedicated to babies who have died, widely distributed across the country. No one should have to travel very far to reach their nearest memorial space.

For us to achieve this, the spaces we fund must be

• Relatively inexpensive to create (spaces that make use of natural processes with lower environmental impact, rather than those requiring significant landscaping or building works, will be preferred for both cost and sustainability reasons)
• Relatively inexpensive, or free, to maintain
• Readily accessible and welcoming to people of all faiths and cultures

Sands' aim for memorial spaces is that families can use them to remember and grow through their grief. The natural world, and being engaged in activities, can have hugely beneficial effects on mental health. Spaces which include woodlands/tree planting, therapeutic gardening, benches at beauty spots, etc., will be favoured.

Gardens or memorials that are expensive to build may prevent the development of spaces in nearby towns; members of the public would get one grand space but would have to travel from miles away to visit it. On the other hand, a more modest space that could be replicated easily may lead to another similar campaign in the next town, increasing access to memorial spaces across the country.

Gardens or memorials that must be maintained at cost to Sands will draw down the charity’s ability to push forward our aims via other routes. Disproportionate funding would go to a small number of families who need support, rather than reaching everyone. Ordinarily, Sands would expect the landowner to take on maintenance responsibilities. Sands may commit to finding volunteers who can help with gardening.

Gardens or memorials that are inaccessible to any social group, such as people with disabilities, or people who hold different beliefs to the owner of the site, would prevent Sands reaching everyone who needs support. We aim to provide welcoming, inclusive support everywhere.