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We are here to support any person affected by the death of a baby. We offer one-to-one befriending, telephone support and advice as well as regular group support meetings.


We work with people in Bedfordshire and surrounding areas and all of our services are provided free of charge by local volunteers - Beds SANDS receives no funding other than by donation.

Balls of Steel 2010

Balls of Steel is an intrepid group of cyclists who have just completed a marathon bike ride from Surrey to Bedfordshire with the aim of raising money for Bedfordshire SANDS, Surrey SANDS and national SANDS.

We cannot thank them enough for their courage and generosity - although their marathon ride is over, their justgiving page is still open for business!

Why 17?

Here's a link to national SANDS long-running Why 17 campaign with onward links to other, related resources.

Afternoon Tea in aid of SANDS 25th September

Sam, a great friend of Bedfordshire SANDS, is very kindly organising an afternoon tea in aid of the charity that will take place at her house in Kempston, Beds between 2.30 and 5.00 pm on Saturday 25th September 2010.
If you want to obtain further details or if you would like to donate a raffle prize (or some expertly baked (or bought!) goods) then this would be very welcome - please get in touch with us or Sam direct (via samgilbert_89@hotmail.com).
Sam even has a justgiving page: http://www.justgiving.com/Samantha-Rees

Why is there an Amazon search box on this page?

If you or your friends and family use the Amazon search box on the right of this page to buy goods, then a small percentage of the price of the items you order will be given to Bedfordshire SANDS.
As we receive no funding other than by donation, any monies we receive as a result of you shopping at Amazon through our web page will be particularly welcome - even better, using our search box won't increase the price that you have to pay at the Amazon checkout!

The Sand Rose Project

The Sand Rose Project offers free holidays for bereaved children and families from across the UK.
If you want to find out more about this project and perhaps apply for a break for you and your family, here's a link to the website.

Future Beds SANDS support group meetings


The Group is facilitated by one or more trained SANDS befrienders and provides an opportunity for parents and others to share their experiences and draw mutual support from the group.
If you have not attended before, but would like to go along, you would be very welcome - please get in touch for further location and other details.
Future meetings will take place in Silsoe and the following dates and times have been arranged:
Monday 23rd August 7.30-10.30pm
Monday 20th September 7.30-10.30pm
Monday 25th October 7.30-10.30pm
Monday 15th November 7.30-10.30pm
Monday 20th December 7.30-10.30pm

AGM Tonight!

As our recent Newsletter indicated, our Annual General Meeting takes place at 7.30pm tonight in Stewartby.
All members are very welcome and a copy of the Agenda is here.

Our Priority Projects

You may recall from recent Newsletters (and this blog) that Beds SANDS has been seeking your views in order to identify a number of priority initiatives (including one 'aspirational' project) for the next 12-18 months.

The 'feedback' from Beds SANDS members via letter, email and the ‘voting widget’ that was on this blog has been really helpful both in identifying a 'long list' of potential ideas and then choosing a smaller number to take forward.

After considering all the great ideas and ‘feedback’, the projects that Beds SANDS will focus on are as follows:

1) Maintaining the Support Group and other befriender services.

This is and always will be at the heart of what we do.

2) Supplying good quality memory boxes to Bedfordshire hospitals.

We are already in the process of ordering some excellent boxes from national SANDS.

3) Helping to furnish the bereavement suites in the county's hospitals.

We have already donated a crib and bedding to the Luton and Dunstable General Hospital – see posts below for more

details and pictures.

4) Producing a Beds SANDS ‘business card’ for health professionals.

It is intended that these cards would include a little information about SANDS in general and Beds SANDS in particular,

including contact details. The cards would be supplied to midwives and others to give to people who may need support

from SANDS.

5) Establishing a SANDS Memorial Garden within the county.

Clearly, this is a major, ‘aspirational’ project and we will need a lot of assistance from members if we are to make this a

reality.

Each of the priority projects within our portfolio is significant and very worthwhile, but the establishment of a Memorial Garden is a particularly big venture.

If you are interested in helping to progress and/or fundraise for the proposed memorial garden, then it would be really good to hear from you. Similarly, if you are aware of a venue, (preferably in central Bedfordshire) that might be suitable, then please get in touch ...

Thank you,

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