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SIDS and Kids SA

28 September 2017 UCF Comments Off

It’s Not A Christmas Party!
One of the most difficult times of year for a bereaved family is the lead up to Christmas. Each year the festivities leave an ache in their heart because their beautiful child is not there to enjoy it with them.

SIDS and Kids SA recognises that bereaved families experience significant trauma and anxiety as they try to deal with the ‘happy’ arrangements with any other children, family and friends, and the ‘sadness’ of not having their lost child to share it with.

SIDS and Kids applied for a grant to cover supplies for a get-together in November for bereaved families with counselling staff in attendance.

This will be an event to provide some group counselling and support to help families get through this really difficult time. A local park is to be booked with appropriate facilities to enable a relaxed and informal barbecue.

Each family in attendance understands the grief of the other families, no words are required to explain the sadness! Volunteers encourage them to be a support to each other during this difficult time, but recognise that professional support and guidance is also paramount to remind people of their coping strategies.

SIDS and Kids SA has a charter encompassing support for families who experience the sudden and unexpected death of a child during pregnancy, infancy and early childhood. This includes miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or sudden infant death (SIDS) and the sudden and unexpected death of a child (i.e. drownings, car accidents etc), and have been providing support to SA families for 40 years in 2017.

SIDS and Kids SA is the only bereavement support organisation providing free professional ongoing support to these families.

While this type of “supplies” grant request would not normally be approved , the UCF Board saw the merit behind supporting bereaved families at the approach of the festive season and therefore approved a small grant of $1,000.

This is the second grant made to SIDS and Kids SA – the first was made in 2013 for their LINE 1 Crisis Response.