An incredible team of 160 runners including midwives and staff from St John’s Hospital and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and community midwives, as well as many bereaved parents, friends and family will be running to support SANDS Lothians at the Edinburgh Marathon Festival on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th May.

The huge team of runners are raising vital funds for SANDS Lothians, an Edinburgh based community charity that provides compassionate support to families whose babies have sadly died. The funds the team raise will be used to improve the care of bereaved families across Edinburgh and the Lothians in the hospital and after they come home as well.

Midwife Emma Campbell, who originally started the team at St John’s and motivated others to join, said:

“Caring for bereaved families is the hardest part of my job.  No family should ever have to suffer such a tragic loss.  But when it happens, myself and my team do all we can to help families through their grieving journey.  We help support families to spend time with their babies and make precious memories.

“Sands Lothians is a charity that is so close to our hearts.  We as part of our jobs look after families who suffer the loss of a baby.  There then comes a time when those families go home and we cannot be there to support them.  This is when charities, such as Sands Lothian, step in. We pass the baton to them and know that together we are doing all we can to support our families through the grieving process.

“We then support each other in facilitating staff training by learning from those families and doing all we can to make our bereavement care the best it can possibly be.”

Tracy Watt, Fundraising Manager, said; “We are so grateful at the level of support that we have received this year. It is such a special running weekend and it is so inspiring to see the number of midwives, bereaved parents and their friends and families coming on board and sharing their stories about the precious little ones.”

“We are seeing a steady increase in the number of referrals for specialist bereavement support year on year, so opportunities like this are such an incredible opportunity for us to raise funds to ensure we can be there for families today and in the future.”

If you would like to support St John’s Maternity Team: https://www.justgiving.com/companyteams/Sjhmat